Remus Lupin and the Werewolf Within: Year 1
by janeeyrefreak
Summary: 11 year old Remus Lupin begins life at Hogwarts, meeting new friends and worrying about how to keep his being a werewolf a secret. 1 of 7, each a dif. POV.
1. Entering a New World

Remus Lupin and the Werewolf Within (Year 1)  
  
A/N: This fanfic was written pre-Order of the Phoenix, so parts of it are no longer canon, but they were when I wrote them. I have posted this story, and its sequel, on harrypotter.com, where I am also working on the third in the series currently. I am busy converting the first two years into fanfiction.net format, so bear with me if my posting isn't very frequent.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I do own Austin Harris, Professor Carter, James and Remus' parents, Arnold, Meg and Mrs. Weasley, and the Potters' house elf. I do own most of the plot as well, except of course for Remus' condition and a few minor plot points. JK Rowling is a literary genius, hands down.  
  
Chapter One: Entering a New World  
  
Remus looked around the train station in amazement. Never had he seen so many odd looking people in one place. They were wearing weird colors and carrying around owls. The strangest thing was that he had been one of them and was about to enter their world again.  
  
He stood with his mom and dad between platforms 9 and 10 of King's Cross Station. His mom was trying hard to look excited, but the tears in her eyes were obvious. "Be careful, dear," she said.  
  
"I will mother," he answered and gave her a big hug. "Goodbye."  
  
Nick Lupin, Remus' father, asked, "Are you ready son?"  
  
Remus nodded.  
  
"Then run right at that wall there to get to platform 9 3/4 and I'll be right behind you."  
  
'Is he crazy', Remus thought. 'No, he's been through this before.' And with that thought he took a deep breath and ran through the wall onto the platform.  
  
Before him sat a scarlet engine, the Hogwarts Express. As Remus gazed at it, he heard his father arrive behind him.  
  
"Nick Lupin!" A man with red hair came over and shook his hand.  
  
"Hello Arnold. It's been a long time," Mr. Lupin said. He turned to Remus. "This is Arnold Weasley, one of my old school friends. Arnold, this is my son, Remus."  
  
Remus shook Mr. Weasley's hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
Weasley laughed. "It's a pleasure to have you and your father back with us. We were quite upset when he left the wizarding world for you and your mother."  
  
Remus' dad started to defend his decision, but Mr. Weasley interrupted. "I know, Nick. I'm sure it was for a noble reason. But I want to introduce you to my son Arthur. He's a seventh year and he hates that I came to see him off, but I heard that you'd both be here."  
  
He turned and called, "Arthur, come here!"  
  
A moment later, a tall red haired boy in shabby wizard robes came over. "Yes, Dad? What did you want? There's a third year on the train with a Muggle magazine I want to look at."  
  
Weasley chuckled. "Just a minute my boy. This is Nick Lupin and his son Remus."  
  
Arthur's blue eyes widened. "Mr. Lupin?"  
  
"Yes. It is Remus' first year. Will you make sure he gets to Hogwarts alright?"  
  
Arthur shook himself. "Of course, Dad."  
  
Mr. Weasley asked his son, "Do you know where your sister Meg is?"  
  
"Probably on the train bossing around some first years," was Arthur's snotty reply.  
  
"Arthur! Don't be jealous because Meg is a prefect and you weren't."  
  
"I'm not jealous!" Arthur shouted. To Remus he said, "Do you ever watch TV? I've heard they're an interesting Muggle invention."  
  
Remus immediately liked Arthur and was about to answer when his father pulled him away for a moment. "Remus, my son, you're going to do just fine at Hogwarts so long as you keep up with your studies and follow Headmaster Dumbledore's every order. You owe him a lot for allowing you to come." Nick looked very seriously at his son.  
  
Remus nodded. "I know, dad. Don't worry about me." He smiled.  
  
His dad smiled back. "Don't forget to send us an owl now and then."  
  
"I won't."  
  
With that, Remus turned towards Arthur and said, "Hadn't we better be getting on the train?"  
  
The two boys pushed their trunks toward the train. Arthur said, "I heard that your father left the wizarding world, but I never quite understood why. I hear he was a great wizard."  
  
Remus squirmed a little. But he supposed he'd have to answer this question a lot. It was unusual for anyone from a wizarding family to retreat to the Muggle world, even if they were a squib, which his father was not. "Well, my mom's a Muggle and she was just overwhelmed by the wizarding stuff. She didn't want me to be brought up in this world, so when I was 4 we left it. She thought it was too dangerous." 'Oh no, did I give too much away?' he thought.  
  
Arthur nodded. "The Muggle reaction to witchcraft and wizardry is really amazing. Why back in..." He droned on as the boys boarded the train.  
  
Suddenly Arthur stopped at a compartment. "This is where my friends are," he said. "Would you like to sit with us or would you like me to introduce you to some other first years?"  
  
"I guess I should find some classmates. Some of them are bound to be as clueless about wizardry as I am," Remus answered sheepishly.  
  
Arthur smiled and led him down a few compartments. Inside sat 3 other 11- year-old boys. One was smaller with lots of messy black hair, one was short and round with thin colorless hair and the third had longer dark hair with sort of deep set eyes. Remus wheeled in his luggage as Arthur said, "Hello boys. This is Remus Lupin. He's a first year as well." Then he disappeared, going back to his Muggle magazine, Remus supposed.  
  
The boy with the messy black hair stood up. "Hello Remus, I'm James Potter." The boy with the long hair said," I'm Sirius Black. Are you from Muggles or wizards?"  
  
Remus didn't know quite what to say, but stammered out, "Half and half, but we've been living in the Muggle world completely since I was four."  
  
James looked intently at Remus. "That's interesting." Then he looked at the round boy and said, "Peter, aren't you going to say hello?"  
  
Timidly, Peter said, "I'm Peter Petigrew."  
  
"Nice to meet you all," said Remus politely. They all sat down as the train began to pull away from the station.  
  
James said, "Did anyone see the new broomstick in Diagon Alley recently? It was a new make, a Comet 50. I'd love to have that to play quidditch with."  
  
Sirius agreed, but Peter looked like he never wanted to leave solid ground on a broomstick or any other way.  
  
Remus shifted uncomfortably as James looked at him, trying to include him in the conversation. "I've never been to Diagon Alley," he explained.  
  
"How'd you get your supplies and your wand?" Sirius demanded.  
  
"My dad got my supplies and I'm using his wand until I've decided whether to live Muggle or wizard," Remus said, looking ashamed.  
  
"Why wouldn't you live as a wizard, since you are?" James asked.  
  
"My mom says it's dangerous and she worries about me. But she wants me to decide." Looking to change the subject, he asked, "What's quidditch anyway?"  
  
James and Sirius launched into a long and detailed description of the best loved wizarding sport. In quidditch, teams fly on brooms, trying to score points by putting a quaffle through a hoop while dodging bludgers and opposing players. But whatever team catches the Snitch, the fastest and smallest ball, gets 150 points and ends the game. Remus listened intently, while Peter looked sick just hearing about the game.  
  
As they finished, an older witch stopped by the compartment with the candy cart. The other three boys helped themselves to a variety of magical and exotic sweets, while Remus tried to pick out something recognizable. He ended up with a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a chocolate frog.  
  
As he opened the Bertie Bott's, a memory came back to him. "Oh," he said aloud. "I think I remember these things from when I was little. I loved them until I ate a ketchup flavored one. No wonder I don't really care for jelly beans."  
  
The boys laughed and tried to guess the flavors they'd come across today, because when they say "every flavor," they mean EVERY flavor. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the worst they came across was black pepper.  
  
Soon the train stopped and the boys hurried to get off of the train. As they did, they could hear a voice calling, "First years, this way. First years, follow me!"  
  
The four boys left their trunks (they were told they would be taken care of) and followed the voice. It belonged to a nice looking man who introduced himself as Professor Carter, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
  
"First years," he began, "get into these boats- four in each please- and we will sail to Hogwarts, your home for the next seven years."  
  
Remus, James, Sirius and Peter got into a boat. In the boat next to them was a very pretty girl, with auburn hair and a few freckles. She looked at Remus and smiled. With his light brown hair and crooked smile, he was quite attractive to the girls, but he didn't realize it. He blushed and looked away. James saw the whole thing, and said, "That's Lily Evans. She introduced herself on the train. She seems alright, for a girl."  
  
Remus was embarrassed to be caught looking at Lily like that, so he looked at James and asked innocently, "Who?"  
  
James laughed and nudged Remus with his elbow. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."  
  
At that moment, each boy knew he had made a friend for life. 


	2. Introduction to Hogwarts

Chapter Two: Introduction to Hogwarts  
  
After their voyage across the lake, and their first awesome view of the Hogwarts castle, the first years were led inside the magnificent building and up a flight of stairs. There Professor Carter left them in the capable hands of deputy headmistress McGonagall.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the tall blonde lady in flowing purple robes. "I trust you all had a good journey here. In a few minutes, I will lead you all into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your houses. There are four houses, all of which are equally respected. Your house will be like your family while you are at Hogwarts. I'll be back in a moment, please wait quietly."  
  
Remus took the opportunity to talk to James and Sirius about the four Hogwarts Houses. "Which house do you think is the best?" he asked.  
  
Sirius answered, "Slytherin is for people with ambition, but every witch or wizard that has turned bad has come from there."  
  
Remus shuddered. "Not Slytherin then."  
  
"Hufflepuff is for people who work hard, and are loyal," James said. "Ravenclaw is for the most intelligent and Gryffindor is for the bravest people."  
  
Remus thought for a second, then said, "Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sound best. I just hope I end up with one of you guys."  
  
"My family has always been in Gryffindor," said Sirius.  
  
"Mine, too," added James.  
  
Just then, Professor McGonagall returned. "Follow me," she announced.  
  
All of the first years filed after her into the Great Hall. They lined up in front of all of the students, with the teacher's table behind them. Between the first years and the student tables was a stool, upon which was a very old, shabby wizard hat.  
  
Remus was glad to see he wasn't the only one staring at the hat, wondering what it had to do with what house you belonged in. As he and his classmates stared, the hat began to sing:  
  
"At Hogwarts, Great Hogwarts  
  
We have four houses, all unique  
  
What makes them different, you ask?  
  
Listen as I speak!  
  
In Ravenclaw, wise Ravenclaw  
  
Boy those kids have smarts  
  
You'll see honesty and intelligence  
  
and really big hearts!  
  
In Gryffindor, brave Gryffindor,  
  
I'm sure that you will find  
  
lots of courage, good friendships  
  
not to mention a good mind!  
  
In Hufflepuff, sweet Hufflepuff  
  
I think that you will see  
  
lots of really hard workers  
  
and lots of loyalty!  
  
In Slytherin, oh Slytherin  
  
These folks can be mean  
  
But they are more ambitious  
  
than any kids I've seen!  
  
All four houses at Hogwarts  
  
are really really great  
  
So step right up to find your house  
  
I know you just can't wait!"  
  
All four long tables in the Great Hall erupted with applause. A few of the more exuberant students even threw their hats up into the air, which made Remus look up and notice the ceiling for the first time. It looked exactly like the sky outside. There were stars and light clouds and there didn't appear to be a roof at all. "Look at the ceiling," he whispered.  
  
"It's enchanted to look like the sky," Peter said, always willing to please.  
  
Professor McGongall was standing with a scroll, ready to read off names. "Could the first years remain silent, please?" she said sternly.  
  
Farther down the line, a kid with black greasy hair and a large nose looked at Peter and Remus and laughed. Remus was angry. What had he done to deserve to be made fun of? He had the urge to punch the greasy kid in his abnormally large nose, but he was distracted by what was happening in front of him.  
  
McGonagall had called "Adams, Edward" to come forward and she placed the sorting hat on his head.  
  
Edward sat there for a minute before the hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!" A cheer came from the Hufflepuff table as Edward ran down to join them.  
  
Two students later, it was Sirius' turn. He sat on the stool for only a moment until the hat screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius went to sit at their table, next to Arthur Weasley.  
  
When Lily Evans was called up, Remus could feel James' gaze, so he tried to look uninterested. The hat had barely settled on her head before it yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"  
  
Before he knew it, it was Remus' turn. He walked over and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on his head and he could hear it talking. "What do we have here? Lots of loyalty, but yes, lots of bravery." Then it yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!", for the whole hall to hear and Remus ran off to join Sirius at the Gryffindor table. He sat opposite him, next to a red haired 6th year girl. "Well done, Lupin," she said. "I'm Meg Weasley. Arthur here tells me you two met on the train. I hope he didn't bore you with his Muggle stories." Remus was spared answering, because just then a loud cheer rang from Slytherin as a brunette girl ran to join them.  
  
The next of Remus' group to go was Peter. He sat on the stool for three full minutes while the hat decided what to do with him. Eventually the hat must have found some bravery buried deep inside because he went into Gryffindor. James was the very next student to be sorted. Without much debate, the hat placed him in Gryffindor. James sat next to Sirius and got high fives from the whole gang. "We all ended up together," he exclaimed. "We're gonna have fun!"  
  
As the sorting ended, a huge feast appeared on the tables. All talking ceased, the students were much too busy stuffing their mouths. Remus was having so much fun, he couldn't remember a better day back in the boring Muggle world. Then he looked up at the ceiling again and noticed this time the moon was shown in the sky. The moon was waxing, in a few days it would be full. Remus almost choked on his pumpkin juice.  
  
James looked over at him. "Are you ok, Remus?"  
  
Smiling weakly, Remus replied, "Sure, James, I'm fine." James looked at him for another moment before turning back to his food.  
  
It seemed like hours later to Remus when the feast finally concluded. As the students followed their prefects to the common rooms, Headmaster Dumbledore stopped Remus.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Lupin," he said.  
  
"Thank you, sir," Remus said respectfully.  
  
"I think we need to have a little talk before you join your classmates in your dormitories." Dumbledore smiled at Remus.  
  
Remus tried to smile back. He knew what this was about and he just wanted to forget about it and have fun with his new friends. "Yes sir."  
  
Dumbledore walked quickly through many hallways and stopped suddenly in front of a statue. Remus stopped as well, and turned to look at the hallway behind him. Across from the statue was a large portrait of a witch. As he wondered who she was, he thought he heard Dumbledore whisper "candy cane" but he wasn't sure. All of a sudden, the wall in front of Dumbledore opened, and they walked up the stairs to a well-furnished office.  
  
Remus looked around in wonder. His attention was caught by a very small and featherless bird on the headmaster's desk. "What kind of bird is that, sir?"  
  
"Oh that is my phoenix, Fawkes. I've had him a long time," Dumbledore said, leaving Remus wondering how an old bird could look so young. "Please sit down."  
  
As Remus sat, Dumbledore continued. "I am sure you have noticed that it is almost time for a full moon and I'll bet you are wondering what precautions we are going to take for you."  
  
Nodding Remus answered, "Yes, sir. I have. I would like to thank you, too, for allowing me to attend Hogwarts. Not many headmasters would allow a…a…"  
  
"It's better to say it Remus. Not naming a thing makes it worse than it is," Dumbledore said gently.  
  
Remus gathered his courage and continued, "…would allow a werewolf to attend their school."  
  
"Well Mr. Lupin, your condition is not your fault, it does not affect your wizarding abilities and it can be handled so as not to bring harm to anyone else. I don't see how any reasonable person could keep you out of school."  
  
Greatly relieved, Remus said, "Just the same, sir, thank you. What are we going to do when it gets to be a full moon?"  
  
"Did you see the huge tree planted on the grounds, the one waving wildly?" Remus nodded. "It has been planted this summer especially for your arrival. The Whomping Willow covers the entrance to a tunnel that leads to a shack just outside of Hogsmeade. Every month, the day before the full moon, we will take you to this tunnel and leave you there until it is safe for you to come out. No villagers will stray there because we have started rumors that it is haunted. You will not be able to harm anyone," Dumbledore explained.  
  
"But how will I get to the tunnel if the tree is thrashing about?" Remus asked.  
  
"Ahhh," Dumbledore said. "You are a quick one. There is a certain knot of the tree, if poked with a long stick, will stop the trees movement for a few minutes. That will be long enough for you to get in."  
  
"Thank you so much, headmaster," Remus said, standing. "Is it alright if I go and join my friends now?"  
  
"You're quite welcome, Remus. I am sure you will make us all proud. You may go now, but meet Madame Pomfrey at the front doors tomorrow night at 9. She will escort you to your tunnel."  
  
Remus thanked Dumbledore again and left the office. Out in the hall, he promptly ran right into a older girl.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."  
  
She smiled. "A first year, aren't you?"  
  
"Is it that obvious?" he grinned back.  
  
"What house are you in?" she asked.  
  
"Gryffindor."  
  
"Me, too," she exclaimed. "I'm a second year. Do you need help finding our common room?"  
  
"Yes," Remus answered. "By the way, my name's Remus Lupin. What's yours?"  
  
"Arabella Figg," she said, as she started to show him to his new home.  
  
The two Gryffindors talked and laughed all of the way through the maze of corridors and moving staircases. Remus was very glad he had run into Arabella, and not just because he would have gotten hopelessly lost. All too soon they stopped at a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress.  
  
The lady smiled and said, "Password?"  
  
Arabella laughed at Remus' surprised face. "Came from a Muggle family, didn't you?"  
  
"Sort of. I'm half and half, but we lived in the Muggle world," Remus looked away, suddenly embarrassed.  
  
"Oh...I guess you'll appreciate all of the magic more than me and the other wizard born kids will," Arabella said thoughtfully.  
  
Staring at her in amazement, Remus nodded. "I guess so. " She didn't ask why, he thought. She just accepted it.  
  
The fat lady interrupted his thoughts. "Are you going to give me the password or not?"  
  
"Sorry," said Arabella. "Porcupine quills."  
  
The portrait swung open, revealing a large room decorated in red and gold. A large fire was roaring in a massive fireplace, and many Gryffindors still sat around it, despite the late hour.  
  
"Remember the password so you can get in again," Arabella said. "And don't be surprised when people in pictures move. That's how wizard pictures work." With a smile, she was off with some other second years.  
  
Looking around, Remus spotted James, Peter and Sirius crowded around a small table in the corner. "Hello guys," he said, walking over.  
  
"Was Dumbledore mad at you already?" James asked. "We were worried."  
  
"Oh..." Remus thought quickly. He didn't want anyone to know he was a werewolf, no one would want to be his friend then. "No, he got an owl from my dad. My mom's fallen ill and he wants me to come home and see her tomorrow after dinner."  
  
"Is she going to be ok?" Peter asked anxiously.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," Remus said. He thought he detected a faint look of disappointment cross Peter's face.  
  
"What are you guys doing?" he asked.  
  
James groaned. "Getting beat by Sirius at chess."  
  
"Chess?" Remus repeated. "Finally something I'm good at." He watched intently as James made his next move. Sirius' queen seemed to grin maliciously as Sirius commanded it to take James' bishop. To Remus' surprise, the queen moved across the board herself and smashed James' bishop with her sword. "What is that?" Remus exclaimed.  
  
"Wizard chess," said James sadly. "Never was much good at it."  
  
Soon James had lost completely and it was getting late, so the boys headed to their dorm. 


	3. Blood Matters

Chapter Three: Blood Matters  
  
Remus followed the others up the stairs to the first year boy's dormitories. In the room were five four poster beds, all draped in red curtains. Next to each bed was a desk, which had a set of Gryffindor accessories on it. There were red and gold scarves, ties and shirts. Each boy claimed a bed. After they had settled in, another boy came up. Remus had seen him at the feast, but hadn't talked to him yet. Knowing how it felt to be a stranger in a group of friends (and realizing that it had been only this morning that he had met this group of friends and already he was as much in the group as they were) Remus went straight over to shake this boy's hand.  
  
"Hello," he said. "I'm Remus Lupin. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name at the sorting."  
  
The boy smiled. He had blonde hair and very blue eyes. "Hello, Remus. I'm Austin Harris."  
  
Sirius, James and Peter all jumped up to introduce themselves. After a round of handshakes, Sirius said, "Are your family wizards? I can't remember seeing you around Diagon Alley."  
  
"Nope, they're all Muggles. It was quite a surprise that I got a letter from a wizard school. I thought they only existed in fairy tales." He laughed nervously. "I'm a little scared to be here, I'm sure I'm so far behind."  
  
"Don't worry," Remus said. "I'm from the Muggle world, too."  
  
As the boys got ready for bed, Remus thought about what had happened on his last birthday. He had gone to collect the mail, expecting to receive some cards. He hadn't paid any particular attention to the letter on heavy parchment addressed to Mr. R. Lupin, The Second Bedroom, until he had read the strange message it contained. "You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."  
  
He had shown it to his father right away, and he could tell how proud and excited his father was, though he tried to hide it. Nick had said he would have to discuss the letter with Remus' mother before it could be explained. He heard his mother screaming and crying from behind the bedroom door as she read the letter. She told Nick that she wanted nothing more to do with the world that had ruined their son's life.  
  
Eventually they decided to break the news to Remus now, and explain the letter. They told him about the wizard world and the event that caused them to leave it. The family had been vacationing at a popular wizard campground when Remus was four. He had wandered off into the forest and gotten lost. Nick had found him just in time to keep the raving werewolf from ripping Remus apart, but he had already received a bite.  
  
His grief-crazed parents had taken him to every wizard doctor there was, but there was no cure. He was going to become a werewolf. But one doctor had an experimental spell that put off the effects of the bite for seven years. His mother had been so angry and scared of the world that had done this to her son that she convinced Nick that the safest place for Remus was in the Muggle world. Not only would he be safe from monsters, but no Muggle would ever believe that he was a werewolf, even if someone saw all of the signs.  
  
But now it was time for the spell to be wearing off and they would have had to tell Remus something about it pretty soon. After they had told him the story, they gave him the choice about going to Hogwarts. Of course, that was a lot for his 11-year-old brain to take in, but he decided to try Hogwarts and see what life he liked better. I made the right decision, he thought as he drifted quickly off to sleep. He had had a rather full day.  
  
The next day went by quickly, as Remus tried to adjust to a new world and new homework. After classes, the boys had an hour or so before dinner, so they decided to go out to the quidditch field and teach Remus how to play. They had taken their first flying lesson earlier in the morning and the young French instructor, Madame Hooch, had seen enough skill in James, Remus and Sirius to let them fly on their own time with the school brooms. Peter had not even managed to get off of the ground during the hour-long lesson, but he didn't seem to mind very much.  
  
So the boys headed out to the field with the school's old, slow brooms. "I wish first years could bring their brooms with them," James said for the thousandth time.  
  
Sirius smiled at Remus and said, "Really, James? I didn't know we couldn't bring them."  
  
James stopped abruptly. "What?!? How could you not know that? Did you bring yours?"  
  
The three boys burst out laughing, leaving James feeling very stupid. "Oh, I see," he mumbled. "I've complained a bit too much, have I?"  
  
"A bit?" Remus managed to say.  
  
James smiled at his friends and joined in their laughter. Soon, they reached the field. Remus mounted his broom and took a few laps around the field to get the feel of flying again. Then he looked at James and Sirius, who were tossing around a red quaffle. "Toss that over here!" he said, flying closer.  
  
James threw the perfect pass, and Remus had it in his hands, but it slipped out. "Oops!" he said. "I'll go get that."  
  
He landed gently on the ground and picked up the quaffle. He was just about to take off and join his friends when he heard a loud and nasty voice saying, "What's the matter, Lupin? Do Mudbloods have slippery fingers?"  
  
Remus glared at the greasy haired boy from the sorting whom James had pointed out as Severus Snape earlier in the day. He was standing in the field with two other Slytherins. Remus didn't know exactly what Snape had said, but he knew an insult when he heard one. He was just about to shout something really rude about Snape's mother when Sirius and James landed next to him.  
  
"How dare you insult one of my friends like that?" Sirius roared.  
  
"His dad's a wizard for crying out loud," James yelled at the same time. "You are as stupid as you are ugly and mean."  
  
Remus looked at his friends. "What's a Mudblood?" he asked.  
  
Peter piped up from behind, "It's a really nasty insult for someone without wizard blood in them."  
  
Snape smirked at the small band of friends. "Well if he's not a Mudblood, why haven't I seen him or heard of his family before?"  
  
"Stop calling him that!" Sirius yelled. He started to advance towards Snape and his gang. James and Remus joined him.  
  
"How about a friendly game of quidditch to settle this?" Snape said slimily.  
  
"Don't agree Sirius," James muttered. "He just knows he's gonna get beat up."  
  
"Well are you guys all chicken or what?" Snape laughed.  
  
Sirius smiled. "Oh no, we're not chicken. I just hope you're ready to learn the new meaning of the word defeat, Snape."  
  
Remus was appointed keeper, while Sirius and James took the jobs of chasers. All three mounted their brooms and prepared to do battle. After all, Snape had insulted one of their own.  
  
Peter tossed the quaffle into the air to begin the game, then he retreated to the safety of the sidelines to watch. James grabbed the quaffle out of Snape's outstretched arms and darted towards the Slytherin's hoops. Sirius flew ahead of him and caught James' pass perfectly. He faked to the left and threw the quaffle through the right-most hoop. The Slytherin keeper, a hulking third year named Crabbe, looked around stupidly, wondering where the quaffle had gone. Meanwhile, James had circled behind the hoops, scooped up the quaffle and scored again. The score was now 20-0 in favor of the Gryffindors. Suddenly, Snape flew out of nowhere, grabbed the quaffle and was flying full speed right at Remus. Remus was really scared, but he was also really angry. He stood his ground and tried to be prepared for whatever Snape was planning. Snape hurled the quaffle at the left hoop, and Remus flew at it and stopped it just in time.  
  
The game continued at this fevered pace, with the teams playing pretty evenly. Remus discovered he wasn't a spectacular keeper, but he could hold his own against these Slytherins. The score was tied at 110 when Peter yelled, "It's almost time for dinner, guys. The next goal wins."  
  
Neither team wanted to stop so soon, but they knew if they missed dinner they'd be in worse trouble. So they prepared to fight for this last goal. James had the quaffle and he was flying towards the Slytherin end. Sirius flew beside him. They flew in unison, dodging Snape and Goyle, the other Slytherin chaser for the game. They tossed the quaffle back and forth as they got closer, effectively confusing the slow keeper. All of a sudden, the massive Goyle slammed right into James and Snape quickly grabbed the falling quaffle.  
  
Before Remus could react, Snape was 20 feet away from the Gryffindor's hoops. Snape flung the quaffle at Remus. He tried to block it, but it was thrown with such force that it broke his middle finger. He watched in dismay as the quaffle soared through the middle hoop.  
  
Snape let out a huge cheer. "Told you all that loser couldn't play quidditch," he laughed nastily.  
  
James and Sirius ignored these jeers and landed where Remus was now standing, staring at the weird angle his middle finger now stuck out at. "We had better get you to the hospital wing," Sirius said, looking concerned.  
  
"I'm sorry I let that one past," Remus said as they began to walk back to the castle. Snape and his followers were still laughing and cheering behind them.  
  
"Don't worry about it," said James. "It was a stupid idea to let them talk us into playing them."  
  
They walked to the school and found Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, in the hospital wing. "Oh dear," she sighed when she saw Remus' hand. "What happened?"  
  
"Quaffle to the finger," he said.  
  
"That'll only take a minute to repair, but you had better stay here through dinner, just in case. Your friends can go join the others in the hall."  
  
Sirius and James were reluctant to leave, but they couldn't argue with Madame Pomfrey. As they left, Sirius called out, "See you in a couple of days, I hope, Remus."  
  
Remus looked startled for a moment, and then remembered that tonight was the full moon. His attention was distracted by the spell the nurse witch was placing on his finger. As she spoke, he could feel the bone growing back together. It was not a particularly pleasant feeling, but it felt better.  
  
"Lay down for a few minutes," Madame Pomfrey said sternly. "I'll have a dinner brought to you in a few minutes." 


	4. Transformations

Chapter four: Transformations  
  
After a light dinner, Remus started to get nervous about what would happen to him tonight. He had only been become a werewolf twice now, but it was an awful experience. Especially now, when there were so many other people around he could harm if he was loose. He moved his finger slowly as he tried to think about what his friends would learn at school while he was gone. All of a sudden, he thought Where was Peter after the quidditch match? He didn't walk in with us and I didn't even notice. Remus felt awful for forgetting Peter, but consoled himself that he couldn't have concentrated on more than his finger at the time. Still, he wondered why Peter hadn't come with them.  
  
Just then, Madame Pomfrey came back into the room. "Can you bend your finger yet?" she asked.  
  
Remus nodded and showed her.  
  
"Excellent," she said happily. "Now I'll escort you to the Whomping Willow and show you how to stop it."  
  
Luckily they passed no one on the way to the school grounds. It would have been hard for Remus to explain why the school nurse was taking him to meet his father. Outside, Remus spotted a huge man clipping the bushes around the school. The man turned around and called out, "Hello, Madame Pomfrey!" Remus was surprised to see that the man looked only about 25.  
  
"Hello Hagrid," Madame Pomfrey called back cheerfully.  
  
"Who's that?" Remus asked as they walked towards the edge of the grounds.  
  
"That's Hagrid, the Keeper of the Grounds here at Hogwarts."  
  
Soon they reached the tree, its branches waving wildly. With a long stick she found on the ground, Madame Pomfrey poked a knot near the bottom of the tree. The tree stopped. She pointed out the hole beneath the tree that led to the tunnel. "Just go down the tunnel (it's a bit long) until you get to the shack. You'll be quite safe there. We'd like you to stay two nights, just to be safe, but there is enough food to keep you full." She smiled. "Everything will work out fine. Now hurry before the tree starts up again."  
  
Remus thanked her and crawled down the hole into the tunnel. He walked for what felt like hours until he reached his sanctuary. He took a quick tour before collapsing on the shabby bed. He was glad to see that the door could not be opened from the inside or the outside. There was no chance that he could get out and hurt someone.  
  
Lying on the bed, Remus watched dusk fall, and as the moon began to rise, he felt the change come over him. His arms and legs grew long brown fur. He felt his mind being taken over by the wolf's mind as his body made the painful shift from man to beast. For the rest of the night, his werewolf form raged through the shack, howling and scratching. When Remus awoke in the morning, he remembered none of what happened. Looking around the room, he could tell he had not escaped to do more damage.  
  
All day long, he lay around, reading a few old copies of the Daily Prophet that covered the floor and wondering what his friends at school were up to. As night came, he got a little bit nervous that the moon might still be full enough to force the change, but his fears did not become reality. Once the moon was all the way up, Remus felt calm enough to crawl into bed, where he slept very peacefully through the night.  
  
Remus woke with the sun the next morning, anxious to get back to his friends and his classes. He walked quickly across the grounds to the castle and made his way to the Gryffindor common room. Inside his dorm, the other boys were just beginning to wake up.  
  
He began to change his robes when everyone was awake enough to realize he was back. "How's your finger?" asked James.  
  
"Is your mum any better?" Sirius asked.  
  
Remus smiled. "Slow down you guys! My finger is fine, and my mom is doing well, but I think I get to go see her once a month until she is completely better."  
  
Everyone was happy to hear this answer and they talked excitedly about what Remus had missed yesterday and what they might learn today. Soon they were ready to go down to breakfast. When they got there, Peter excused himself. "I have to see someone about something…I'll catch up with you on the way to class."  
  
Sirius and James exchanged glances as they watched Peter walk over to the Slytherin table and sit with Snape. "What is wrong with him?" James wondered aloud. "All they want him for is to follow their every command. Can't he see that?"  
  
No one answered. They all concentrated very hard on the breakfast in front of them.  
  
Over the next couple of weeks, Peter hung out with the group sporadically. He was usually found following Snape's group around. At first James and Sirius were very hurt, since the three of them had been friends since they were very little, but they realized that if Peter wanted to be friends with powerful people, he wasn't much of a true friend.  
  
Remus tried not to concern himself with Peter's desertion, he had way too much on his mind with all of his lessons. The classes themselves were all very interesting, but there was so much homework to complete. His favorite class by far was Defence Against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Carter. As the professor told the class tales of how he had defeated monsters and saved wizard and Muggle lives, Remus daydreamed of living that kind of life. I want to be like Professor Carter, he thought, but I am the kind of creature he fights off. Still, Remus looked forward to going to DADA.  
  
The other classes the first years attended were flying classes, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Charms and the History of Magic. Potions was the hardest for Remus; it was fun, but he didn't have the natural knack for it like some of his classmates did. The good thing about Potions class was that Gryffindors had it with Ravenclaw. That meant Remus got to see Lily Evans all of the time. He hadn't talked to her yet, but he watched her from across the room (which might be why he wasn't doing as well in that class!)  
  
A week before the next full moon, the Gryffindors were at flying lessons with the Slytherins. After a few practice laps, Madame Hootch picked 7 people from each house to scrimmage at quidditch. Remus and Austin were not picked, so they practiced tossing a quaffle for a while, then watched the scrimmage. Sirius was one of the Gryffindor chasers; James was the seeker, the hardest position of all. Snape was a Slytherin chaser, but his friends Crabbe and Goyle were not playing.  
  
Remus was suddenly reminded of Peter, and he couldn't find him anywhere. "Hey Austin, where do you think Peter's gone?"  
  
Austin pointed to their right. "Hooch is over there with him, giving him some tips." Both boys began to laugh.  
  
"He still hasn't managed to get off of the ground has he?" Remus sputtered between giggles.  
  
Austin shook his head, helpless to speak.  
  
Shouting from the field drew their attention away from Peter. "I wonder what's going on?" Remus said.  
  
They walked over to where most of the spectators were standing. "Potter has seen the snitch!" one of them cried, as James sped towards the ground. Remus strained his eyes, and thought he saw a speck of gold, but it was gone. James pulled out of his dive just in time, and circled around, trying to see where the golden snitch had gone. Madam Hooch joined the group.  
  
"What was all of the shouting about?" she asked anxiously.  
  
"James saw the snitch, but it got away from him," Austin said sadly.  
  
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and yelled, "Game's over! Time for your next lesson!"  
  
Just then, James turned quickly and sped toward the Slytherin hoops. His hand was inches from the snitch when it dropped down sharply. James followed, with a very steep dive. Before anyone could tell what had happened, James was standing on the ground holding the snitch.  
  
The Gryffindors cheered. Madam Hooch looked impressed. "Nice job, Potter. I'll tell the Gryffindor captain about that, she may want you on the team this year." To everyone, she yelled," Anyone interested in playing for their house should report to tryouts Saturday morning at 9 am."  
  
On the way to Transfiguration, Sirius was asked James excitedly if he planned to try out.  
  
"Of course I'll try out," said James. "It's worth a shot."  
  
Austin piped up. "Can we come and watch your tryout?"  
  
Sirius answered before James could. "Of course we'll all be there for James, for support. I'm going to try out for chaser, but James has a much better chance than I do. Good seekers are hard to find."  
  
James smiled bashfully. "Aw, I'm not that good. But it'll be nice to have you all there on Saturday."  
Saturday, Remus thought, the full moon is on Friday, I won't be able to go. Out loud he said, "I can't go."  
  
"What?" Sirius said. "Why not?"  
  
"I have to go see my mum on Friday night and I won't be back until Sunday morning."  
  
"Oh." James looked disappointed.  
  
"If I could switch the day, I would, but it's too soon. I'm sorry James," Remus said sadly.  
  
"I know you would. It's ok."  
  
In Transfiguration, Remus tried to think of a way to watch James' tryout with out letting them know that he had lied about his mother. At last, he thought that maybe he could stand at the edge of the grounds during the day and see some of the tryouts without anyone seeing him.  
  
All of a sudden, his thoughts were interrupted by McGonagalls stern voice.  
  
"Mr. Lupin, maybe you can tell us how many registered Animagi there have been so far this century."  
  
Remus didn't even know what an Animagi was, he hadn't been paying any attention at all. He looked up. "I'm sorry, but I don't know."  
  
Professor McGonagall shook her head and said, "You'll have to start paying attention in this classroom, Mr. Lupin. I just got done saying there are only six registered Animagi in this century. One of them is me."  
  
With that strange announcement, she changed into a cat. The whole class gasped. With a popping noise, their professor returned to a human form. Everyone clapped, especially Remus. On the way out of class, James and Sirius were talking about how much fun it would be to become an Animagus. Remus was glad to see that James wasn't so disappointed anymore. As they walked down to lunch, someone called, "Remus!" 


	5. Arabella, Lily and Quidditch Tryouts

Chapter five: Arabella, Lily and Quidditch Tryouts  
  
Surprised, Remus looked around. He was even more surprised when he saw that it was Arabella Figg who was calling his name.  
  
Remus turned to James and said, "I'll catch up with you guys." Then he walked over to where Arabella was standing.  
  
"Hi," he said shyly.  
  
"Hey," she said, smiling. "How have you been doing? I heard you broke your finger and your mum is ill."  
  
"My finger has been fine for awhile, and.." he paused, hating to lie to her. "Yeah my mom is kind of sick."  
  
Arabella put a reassuring hand on Remus' shoulder. "Hang in there, it'll turn out ok."  
  
Feeling such kindness radiating from her, Remus felt much braver. "Do you want to eat lunch with us?" he said very quickly.  
  
Arabella laughed and her whole face lit up. "Who is 'us'?" she asked.  
  
"Oh...yeah," Remus smiled, too. "My friends James, Sirius and Austin."  
  
"Sure," she said and followed Remus to where they sat.  
  
"Sirius, James, Austin, this is Arabella Figg. She's a second year. And this is Sirius, James and Austin," Remus said, as they all shook Arabella's hand. They gazed at her long blonde hair, clear skin and turquoise eyes. Then they looked at Remus with a look that plainly said "wow Remus, you are the man."  
  
Remus shook his head at them and said, "She helped me find the common room after Dumbledore talked to me our first night."  
  
The others seemed to shake off their amazement and act like normal human beings. Remus hoped Arabella hadn't noticed, he didn't want her to think that he had a crush on her, or had told his friends that. I don't have a crush on her, he thought. She's just really nice.  
  
The conversation turned to quidditch and it turned out that Arabella was as into it as the boys. She was planning to try out to be the Gryffindor keeper this year.  
  
"Good luck at tryouts," Remus said.  
  
"Yeah, good luck," Sirius added. "We'll all be there to watch the tryouts since James is trying out for seeker. Well, Remus won't be there…" he trailed off.  
  
Very quickly, Remus said, "I wish I could come but I have to visit my mom."  
  
"Don't feel bad, Remus," Arabella said sincerely. "Your mum is more important than quidditch tryouts. You'll have to let me know how she's doing, ok?"  
  
Remus nodded, thankful to be relieved of his guilty feeling. He had a suspicion that since Arabella said it, his friends would now agree.  
  
After a few more minutes of heated quidditch conversation, a tall boy seated farther down the table called out, "Arabella! Over here!"  
  
"Sorry, guys," Arabella said sadly. "I have to go talk to Mike now."  
  
They all stared at her as she got up and walked down to Mike. As soon as she sat with him, Remus' friends all turned and looked at him.  
  
"What?!?" he said. "It's not like she's my girlfriend, or that I even like her."  
  
Austin said, "But what if Mike is her boyfriend?"  
  
"Didn't you hear me? I don't like her. I don't care if she has a boyfriend," Remus said in an exasperated voice.  
  
Neither Sirius nor Austin said anything else, but they exchanged knowing glances. James looked like he believed Remus, at least partly, but he knew about Lily and no one else did.  
  
The rest of the day, Remus tried to concentrate on his lessons and his friends, but he kept worrying. He worried about the upcoming full moon, he worried about what would happen if anyone found out his secret, or if Mike really was Arabella's boyfriend, or if he would ever get up enough courage to talk to Lily Evans. At the end of the day, he decided the only of these worries that he could do anything about was talking to Lily, so he resolved that the next chance he got, he'd talk to her.  
  
His chance came sooner than he expected. The next day on the way down to the dungeon that Potions class was held in, Remus and his friends were walking a few paces behind Lily. Remus was admiring her long auburn hair when an older Slytherin came down the hallway from the opposite direction. He plowed right into Lily, scattering her books and papers, and kept going.  
  
Remus stopped immediately and began to gather up her belongings. After a moment of staring shocked at the retreating form, Lily looked down and started to help Remus. "Thank you so much," she said. Her voice was light and Remus almost died right there.  
  
"You're welcome. Any decent person would have done the same," Remus managed to say.  
  
Lily smiled sadly, "I'd like to think so. I'm Lily Evans." She held out her hand.  
  
"Remus Lupin." He handed her the things he had picked up. Then he realized his friends were still standing there. "Oh...these are my friends James, Austin and Sirius."  
  
"Nice to meet you all," she said with a smile that lit up her green eyes.  
  
Lily and the four boys walked into Potions together. James asked Lily if she wanted to sit with them. Her smile grew even bigger. "Sure," she said. "I haven't made too many friends here yet. I came from a family of Muggles, but I just love being a witch!"  
  
Remus found it hard to believe that Lily hadn't made any friends, she seemed so nice and her eyes were so pretty. He shook himself from his daydreaming and tried to pay attention to the potions professor.  
  
Lily ate dinner with Remus and his friends that night. Remus was glad, but the looks James kept shooting at him from across the table made him blush uncomfortably. He tried not to look at Lily, knowing that would just make it worse. Concentrating on the food in front of him, Remus was extra quiet.  
  
"Remus?" Lily said. "Are you feeling alright?"  
  
"Yeah," he said looking up.  
  
"Are you worried about your mother?" Sirius asked sympathetically.  
  
"Yeah…" Remus trailed off.  
  
Lily looked concerned. "Is she sick?"  
  
"Yeah, I am going to visit her tomorrow," Remus muttered.  
  
The others got the idea that he didn't want to discuss it anymore and changed the subject.  
  
Remus did not sleep well that night, he had too much on his mind. Classes the next day dragged on, and Remus barely noticed that Lily joined the group whenever she could. Finally the wait was over. After dinner, he walked to the hospital wing and met Madam Pomfrey. As they walked, she tried to start a conversation, but Remus answered shortly.  
  
"See you in a few days," she called as he disappeared under the Whomping Willow.  
  
Remus' transformation this month went much the same as the last. Nothing went wrong the first night and Remus decided the next morning to see if he could watch a bit of the quidditch tryouts without being seen. He poked the large knot near the bottom of the tree and emerged from the tunnel cautiously. No one was around. Remus walked through the forest, following it around to the quidditch field. He could see some of what was going on from his hiding place in the woods.  
  
"Is that James?" he said aloud. He watched a small form on a broom being drilled by an older student. The other student was throwing golf balls in all directions while James flew after them. It looked to Remus like James was catching about 80% of them. He decided to come a little closer to the field so that he could see better. While he walked forward, he also kept his eyes peeled for Arabella, but he didn't see her.  
  
Remus stood at the edge of the woods and watched for a few minutes, in wonder at James' quick reflexes. His attention strayed for a moment, and when he looked back, James was flying directly at Remus, reaching out for the golf ball that was beginning to descend. Suddenly, James looked directly at Remus and was so startled, he almost fell off of his broom.  
  
Remus panicked. As he ran deeper into the woods, he heard a voice calling, "James, you had that one. Why'd you stop?"  
  
Not stopping to hear James' answer, Remus ran as fast as he could back to the willow, almost breaking his ankle as he went. Breathing heavily, he stopped the tree's motion and jumped into the tunnel. There he sat until he could breathe normally. Oh my gosh! What have I done? he thought. If James finds out, he'll never want to talk to me again, and neither will anyone else!  
  
Needless to say, Remus spent a long and sleepless night in the shack, wondering if James would believe that he saw Remus, or if he would have told Sirius and Austin. He tried to think of a plausible story to explain his presence. Finally, he realized he would just have to play it by ear once he got back, and he drifted off to sleep. *** As Remus was running panicked through the woods, James was still staring at the spot where he thought he had seen Remus standing. It couldn't have been, he thought, shaking his head. I must be seeing things.  
  
A voice broke through his thoughts, asking for the second time what had gone wrong on the last catch.  
  
"Oh," James said. "I thought I saw something moving in the woods."  
  
"Is that all?" said the other student. "There's tons of things that live in those woods."  
  
James put his hallucinations out of his mind and focused on the tryouts at hand.  
*** Remus entered breakfast the next morning with a very queasy stomach. He had no idea what James thought he had seen, or how he would react if he believed he had seen Remus. As he approached where his friends were sitting, they all greeted him warmly.  
  
"Hullo Remus," Austin said cheerfully.  
  
"How's your mum?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Doing better, thanks," Remus replied and sat down. He thought James had watched him closely for his answer, but he couldn't be sure.  
  
"How'd tryouts go?" Remus asked James.  
  
"Pretty well, I think," James said with a smile. "They kept saying 'you're a first year?' like they were surprised."  
  
"That sounds like good news," Remus replied.  
  
The boys dug into their breakfasts as Dumbledore called for everyone's attention. "I have been asked by the Gryffindor quiddich captain, Mary Johnson, to inform everyone who was at tryouts yesterday that the member's names have been posted in your common room." An excited buzz came from the Gryffindor table. James looked nervous, but very excited.  
  
"I can't eat any more," he exclaimed. "Let's go look at the list!"  
  
Most of the members of their house had had the same idea. The boys pushed their way to the front of the crowd at the bulletin board. James scanned the list and turned away, his face giving away his intense disappointment. He collapsed onto an armchair.  
  
As he did, Mary Johnson, a seventh year and quidditch captain, came over to talk to James. His friends gathered closer to hear what she said to him.  
  
"James," she said, "I don't want you to think that we didn't put you on the team because you were bad. You're phenomenal, especially for a first year. But we have a seeker who's a seventh year and has more experience. If you work really hard for next year, I can't even imagine how good you'll be. You'll flatten every team you play."  
  
James looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "You mean it?" he said hopefully.  
  
She nodded. "I really do. You could play for England some day, but there isn't room for you on the team this year."  
  
"Thanks, Johnson," James said. Then he got up and rejoined his friends. "Alright you guys, I have a great idea for a prank to pull on old Professor Binns. Who wants to help?"  
  
They all smiled and Sirius said," We're all in. What's the plan?" 


	6. Halloween

Chapter six: Halloween  
  
The boys waited anxiously for their next history of magic class, which was unfortunately two days away. Finally it was time to put their plan into action. They walked into class and Remus approached Professor Binns before he started class. "Sir," Remus said. "Could you help me? I don't understand why the goblin rebellion happened."  
  
As Professor Binns launched into a long and boring explanation, James snuck to the chalk board. He picked up a piece of chalk and tapped it with his wand, muttering quietly. As soon as he was back in his seat, he gave Remus a thumbs up and Remus said, "Thank you sir, I think I understand now."  
  
James could hardly contain his excitement, he kept squirming in his seat. Professor Binns paid no attention to this, he just stood in front of the class and began to lecture. He turned to write an important point on the board. Sirius began to snicker uncontrollably. Remus glared at him, trying to control his growing mirth.  
  
"SH!" he hissed. "He's gonna know something is going on."  
  
The board read "the rebellion began in Dublin, Ireland and lasted 3 months" when Binns turned back to the class and began to elaborate. With a shimmer, the words written in chalk changed to "Professor Binns smells like a goblin."  
  
At first no one said anything, and no one laughed except for James, Sirius, Remus and Austin, who couldn't control themselves any longer. Then snickers began to spread throughout the classroom. Professor Binns took no notice, he didn't pay much attention to the class. He turned to write the leader of the rebellion's name on the board and noticed what was written there. "Oh...that's not what I meant to write," he said, erasing it with a wave of his wand. He proceeded to write down a strange goblin name.  
  
As he turned around, the words changed to "and he has a big nose." The whole class burst out laughing this time, and it was so loud, Binns couldn't hear himself lecture. This made him stop. "What is going on?" he asked. The class stared at his extremely wrinkled old face and long white hair and laughed even harder. Someone pointed helplessly at the board behind him.  
  
The professor turned and read what it said. "I know I did not write that!" he exclaimed. "Who is responsible for this?"  
  
James tried to look innocent, but he fell out of his desk laughing. "Mr. Potter! What did you do to my chalk?"  
  
"Simple spell, sir," James said when he had a breath. "Insults whoever writes with it."  
  
"Extremely amusing, Mr. Potter," Binns said dryly. "I'm sure Headmaster Dumbledore will think so, too, when you go tell him all about it." James groaned, but Binns pointed to the door.  
  
"Wish me luck guys," he said as he left.  
  
Remus and Sirius walked together to their next class, still giggling at Professor Binns reaction. "That was so brilliant," said Sirius.  
  
"I hope he doesn't get into too much trouble," Remus said, but he obviously agreed with Sirius. They were both worried when lunch was over and Potions was starting and James still wasn't back.  
  
Lily came to sit with them. "Where's James?" she asked.  
  
"Haven't you heard? We pulled off the most brilliant prank on old Professor Binns last lesson," Sirius said, smiling.  
  
"What did you do?" Lily asked, very interested.  
  
"Remus distracted Binns while James bewitched his chalk to write insults about him," Sirius said proudly. "It took him awhile to catch on...he just thought he wrote it wrong at first."  
  
Lily smiled at Sirius. "So you didn't really do anything? It was Remus and James?"  
  
Sirius looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, that's what I meant, but Austin and I helped plan it. Could you imagine me asking for help in History of Magic?"  
  
Laughing, Lily admitted Remus was the best suited for that role in the prank. Just then, James came into the dungeon.  
  
"Sorry Professor," he said quickly. "I was with the headmaster." Then he sat down, but as the lesson was starting, they couldn't ask him how it went until they were walking back out of potions.  
  
"How'd it go?" Austin asked anxiously.  
  
"Did you get expelled?" said Lily breathlessly.  
  
"Well, it took a bit of time to find him, but when we got to his office, he sat me down and asked what I did. I told him I bewitched Binns' chalk to insult him whenever he wrote with it. He kind of smiled, like he thought it was funny, but he knew the headmaster wasn't supposed to laugh at students' pranks. He asked me how long it took for Binns to realize it wasn't his own doing and then with a little smirk, he warned me not to try any more pranks or I'd have detention."  
  
"So you didn't get in trouble at all?" said Remus in disbelief.  
  
"Nope, he didn't even take points from Gryffindor," James said proudly.  
  
"I can't imagine how you pulled that all off, James, but I'm impressed," said Lily. "But I have Defense Against the Dark Arts next and I cant be late. See you at dinner," she called as she walked away.  
  
Remus stared after her, very glad that she was part of their group. James saw his stare and hit Remus on the back, laughing. "She was quite 'impressed' with our prank, Remus," he said.  
  
"It was really your prank," Remus said, turning slightly red.  
  
"Couldn't have done it without you, though," James replied as they walked out to their flying lesson.  
  
A few weeks later, the quidditch season started with a match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Remus was very excited since he had never seen a real quidditch match before. The whole school went out in the chilling wind to support their teams and to watch the most exciting of wizarding sports.  
  
Remus watched in amazement as the Ravenclaw chasers threw the quaffle and flew in formation perfectly. The Slytherin keeper was good, but not good enough to stop all of the Ravenclaw goals. Soon the score was 70-10. A gasp filled the stadium as a glint of gold was seen near the Ravenclaw hoops. The Slytherin seeker, in green robes, raced towards it, but the blue robed Ravenclaw seeker got there first and landed clutching the golden snitch in his hand. Remus and his friends were sitting with Lily in the Ravenclaw seats, but now they were all standing, cheering at the Slytherin defeat. Lily was so excited, she hugged the people on either side of her, who happened to be Remus and James. "Oh I just love quidditch," she said. "It's so exciting! And to see Slytherin crumble...oh what a great match."  
  
Remus agreed, but he didn't speak about the other feeling that was growing in him, it wasn't the excitement of quidditch. It was more in the pit of his stomach and it made him happy and nervous all at once. He didn't have time to examine his thoughts at the time, because the crowd moved back to the castle for lunch, talking loudly and pushing. But as he looked at Lily's green eyes, glowing brilliantly with excitement, his stomach lurched and he knew she was the cause of his new feelings.  
  
The thing that worried Remus the most was how he was going to keep his huge secret from his friends. Now that James had a bit of doubt, he might begin to see through Remus' visits to his mother. He tried to think of an excuse that would take him out of the castle every month. Nothing seemed believable.  
  
If James finds out, that means other people might figure it out as well, Remus thought. What if Lily figures it out? She'd never like me if she knew what I really was.  
  
Of course, all of Remus' friends were better friends than that, and deep down he knew it, but he was so worried, he wasn't thinking. With the thought about Lily, Remus became more determined to hide his condition from his friends even better.  
  
With his mind working overtime to complete his lessons, and think up explanations for his monthly departures, Remus hardly noticed that October was almost finished. It wasn't until he heard Sirius and James talking excitedly about the Halloween feast that he realized how time had flown by.  
  
"What's so great about the Halloween feast?" Remus asked.  
  
"Well," James started, "they decorate the Great Hall with all sorts of spooky decorations, floating pumpkins and real bats, or so I heard. And sometimes they invite a band, and the ghosts always have something special planned, it's Nearly Headless Nick's deathday also."  
  
"And the food is great!" Sirius interrupted. "Even better than the start of term feast, my dad says."  
  
Remus smiled. "That sounds like fun. When is Halloween again?" he asked.  
  
"Umm...this Wednesday," James said.  
  
Remus groaned. Wednesday would be the first night of the full moon. He would probably have to leave the feast early and his excuse to visit his mother just wouldn't cut it.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked. "You don't have to see your mother then, do you? I mean, you could put it off a day, I'm sure your dad would want you to be here."  
  
"Oh, no, that's not it," Remus said quickly. "I just remembered I haven't done my red cap essay for Professor Carter yet and it's due tomorrow."  
  
James looked puzzled. "I thought you and Austin were working on it yesterday in the library."  
  
"Yeah, well, I didn't finish. I had better go do that now." Remus quickly gathered his books and papers and went to the library. As he sat there, looking at his finished essay, he thought about what excuse he could use to leave the feast early. He had just decided to fake an illness partway through so he could go to the hospital wing to meet Madam Pomfrey and warn her of his excuse to miss the next day, when Lily came and sat with him.  
  
"Finishing your red cap essay?" she said, smiling.  
  
"Yeah," Remus said. "I just had a bit left to do."  
  
"Don't you just love Defense Against the Dark Arts?" she asked excitedly. "I would love to go out and battle evil monsters and wizards."  
  
Remus looked a bit wistful as he replied, "Yeah, I think it would be great to go around saving people from all of the bad stuff." He still had trouble expressing himself well in front of Lily.  
  
She nodded enthusiastically. "I agree! To protect wizards' rights world wide and to keep our world safe from evil forces, it would be bloody brilliant!" Remus admired her passion and his stomach gave another one of those strange lurches as his listened to her speech.  
  
Soon it was time for dinner, so Remus gathered his belongings and the two of them walked to dinner together. "I'm really glad I ran into you at the library today, Remus," Lily said, flashing him a beautiful smile. "I really enjoyed our talk." Then they joined their friends, and Remus still felt his new and odd feeling, but the overwhelming feeling throughout the meal was one of friendship and belonging. Too bad I have to keep lying to them, he thought with a pang, not realizing that he could drop the charade at any time without losing any of his true friends.  
  
It wasn't long before it was Halloween and everyone in the castle was anxious for the celebrations to begin. Even Professor McGonagall, one of the strictest teachers, let the class talk excitedly for the entire lesson. They told stories their parents had told them about their feasts, and they argued about who the entertainment would be. Finally, the anticipation was over and the whole school rushed to the Great Hall.  
  
Remus stopped in the doorway, gaping at the magnificent decorations. Floating jack 'o lanterns hovered about the room, black cats ran hissing around the tables, bats swooped across the room. No sooner had Remus stopped to admire these wonderful decorations when he was pushed from behind by the huge crowd still waiting to get in. As he stumbled to the table, he was joined by Lily, Austin, James and Sirius.  
  
"Wow," they all said, looking around in awe.  
  
Looking up, James remarked, "It looks as if we'll have a full moon for Halloween, too. Maybe they've got werewolves as the musical act." He and the others started giggling. Remus tried to join in, but only managed a weak smile.  
  
"Oo," Lily said, jumping to her feet. "Look who they got, it's Johnny Warlock!"  
  
"Who's he?" Remus asked. He hadn't heard much about wizarding music yet.  
  
"Only the hottest teen rock star ever," Lily said, entranced by Johnny's grunge look.  
  
In a high pitch voice, James echoed, "..the hottest teen rock star ever!" Everyone laughed, even Lily.  
  
"Well he is," she said, still laughing. "Look at that hair and his voice." She sighed.  
  
Dumbledore stood up in front of the hall. Immediately everyone quieted down.  
  
"Welcome to the Halloween feast," he began. "For our entertainment this year, we have invited Johnny Warlock." He was interrupted by the loud cheers of the (mainly) female students. "Dinner is served."  
  
Hundreds of mouthwatering dishes appeared on the long tables. Remus piled his golden plate high, eating and listening to wizard rock and roll, which was not unlike Muggle music, but included hits like "I dated a teenage banshee."  
  
Remembering that he had to put his plan into action soon, Remus stopped eating and clutched his stomach. When no one noticed, he groaned a bit.  
  
"Are you ok?" James asked, looking at Remus' painful expression.  
  
"I think I ate too much or something," Remus said. "My stomach hurts really badly."  
  
"I would hate for you to leave the feast, but do you think you should see Madam Pomfrey?" Lily asked nervously.  
  
"No, I'll be ok," Remus said, but then he said, "Oh...it just got worse. Maybe I should go."  
  
Lily nodded. "I'll walk you down there."  
  
"No," Remus shook his head. "You'll miss some of Johnny Warlock. I can get there by myself." The look on his face made Lily cut off her reply of 'i insist.'  
  
Instead she said, "Ok, but we're coming to see you when the feast is done."  
  
Everyone voiced their agreement. Remus smiled through a grimace of pain. "Thanks guys, I'll see you then."  
  
Then he walked slowly from the hall, still clutching his stomach. But someone was watching him leave. 


	7. Meeting Hagrid and Davey Godgeon

Chapter seven: Meeting Hagrid and Davey Godgeon  
  
Remus was out into the hallway and was just about to stop clutching his stomach and moaning when Arabella caught up with him. "Hi Remus!" she said.  
  
"Hi," Remus said and smiled weakly.  
  
"Are you ok? Why are you leaving the feast?" Arabella looked at Remus with concern.  
  
"I got this awful stomach ache all of a sudden," he said. "I'm going to the hospital wing."  
  
"Oh, do you want me to keep you company?" she asked.  
  
"No, there's no reason for both of us to miss the feast," Remus said.  
  
"Look Remus, we're almost there. I'll just walk you there and go back, ok?" Remus could tell he wasn't going to get her to leave, and he wouldn't have minded if he wasn't so anxious to get out of the school.  
  
"Ok," he said. "Thanks."  
  
They continued walking, Arabella asking how Remus' mother was doing (much better), how lessons were going (very interesting, lots of homework) and what his favorite class was.  
  
When he said Defence Against the Dark Arts, she exclaimed, "Really? Me, too."  
  
Just as she was about to explain all about why she loved that class, they reached the door of the hospital wing. "This is where I leave you," she said with a mysterious smile. "I hope you are feeling better soon."  
  
"Thanks," Remus said, opening the door. He turned back to say goodbye before shutting the door, but Arabella was gone. Madam Pomfrey walked briskly over to Remus.  
  
"It's getting a bit late, Remus," she said as she shooed him out the door.  
  
"Sorry, but it was tough to leave the feast early. Everyone had to know why," he explained as they made their way to the front doors. "I told them I had a stomach ache and I was coming to see you. If my friends come looking for me, could you tell them I'm here but you won't allow visitors?" Remus looked at her stern face hopefully.  
  
At this question, her face softened. "Of course, Remus. This must be very hard on you."  
  
"I guess," he muttered. They continued their walk in silence. Remus went through his transformation without running into any problems and he returned to the building two days later. He slipped quietly up to the hospital wing, not passing anybody. He wanted to make it look like he was returning from the hospital wing, not the grounds.  
  
As he entered the room, Madam Pomfrey looked up. "Oh hello Remus. You had quite a few people in here looking for you yesterday. Mr.s Potter, Black and Harris came in as well as Miss Evans and Miss Figg. They were quite mad that I wouldn't let them in, but they left you a few get well treats."  
  
Remus looked at the table where she pointed and saw several hand drawn cards and boxes of candy. He smiled and said, "Thanks, Madam Pomfrey." He gathered his treats and walked out the door. Outside, Lily was waiting for him.  
  
"Hi Remus," Lily said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Much better," Remus said.  
  
"I see Madam Pomfrey gave you our gifts even if she wouldn't let us in," said Lily a bit grumpily.  
  
"Yeah, they're great. I was sleeping most of the time anyway, so I wouldn't have noticed if you were here or not."  
  
"Well I would have felt better if I could have been with you for awhile." Lily smiled again and watched Remus closely as she said, "Arabella Figg was here to see you as well."  
  
Remus looked steadily back into Lily's eyes and replied, "That was nice of her, especially since we've only talked a couple of times."  
  
Lily reached out a hand to touch Remus' arm, when James came running up to them. She took her hand away, and Remus looked at her in wonder as James began talking. "I just heard that mean nurse witch was letting you out. Are you doing ok? The way she was acting made us think you were on your death bed."  
  
"I'm fine, James," Remus said slowly, still processing what Lily had been about to do. "I just needed a simple potion and some rest."  
  
"Speaking of Potions, did you get a chance to finish that paper that we have to turn in tomorrow?" Lily asked.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Let's go up to the library and work on it after dinner then," Lily said to Remus.  
  
Remus smiled. "Good idea, Lily."  
  
"Sirius and I will come, too," James added. "Neither of us have started yet."  
  
Lily flinched a bit, but recovered quickly and said, "Ok, James. See if Austin needs to come as well, alright?"  
  
James nodded and Lily looked at her watch. "Oh," she exclaimed. "I had better get going, class is starting soon. Bye!"  
  
Both boys said goodbye and headed for Herbology, where Sirius and Austin were waiting for them. Remus could hardly concentrate on the lesson as he wondered if Lily had been trying to get the two of them alone in the library. 'Why would she do that?' he thought, not wanting to get his hopes up that it was because she liked him.  
  
As Remus was trying to think of other reasons Lily could want to talk to him alone, he was struck with a horrible thought. What if she had figured out his secret and wanted to talk to him about it? His panicked mind clung to this as the only possible reason she would want to be alone with him. Instead of being disappointed that James was intruding, he was very relieved. 'But at least she is going to talk to me before she tells anyone else,' Remus thought.  
  
Finally dinner was over and it was time to go to the library. "I have to get my books from my common room," Lily said to the four boys. "I'll meet you in the library soon."  
  
"I wonder where the Ravenclaw common room is," mused James aloud as Lily walked away in the opposite direction.  
  
"Why?" Sirius said. "Did you want to visit Lily in the middle of the night or something?" He nudged Remus, laughing as James turned red.  
  
"NO! I just wonder where all 3 of the other common rooms are, they won't tell us at all," he shouted, causing the whole hallway to stare at him. Luckily they reached the fat lady's portrait soon after. They quickly retrieved their books and papers and headed for the library.  
  
On the way to the library, they passed Peter. James perked up and looked like he was about to shout out to him, but he stopped himself. "Sometimes I forget that he's left us," James said to Sirius. "He was our friend for so long before we came to school."  
  
"I know what you mean, but what can we do?" Sirius shrugged. The group walked in silence to the library. They saw Lily already sitting at a table, looking intently at an open book.  
  
James muttered, "Ravenclaw must be close by the library." Sirius heard and started laughing, but he didn't say anything in front of Lily.  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked as they all sat down.  
  
"Nothing," Remus said, looking around for something to blame the mirth on. "We were just..uh..."  
  
"Planning our next great prank," James cut in.  
  
Of course Lily begged James to tell her what the prank was, but he refused. "The less people who know, the better," he insisted. "You'll enjoy it much more if you aren't expecting it, I promise."  
  
Lily wasn't happy about this, but she realized she couldn't change James' mind. Instead, she dove into her essay, working furiously. The boys worked on their essays, too, but at a much easier pace and with more laughs. Remus was also thinking about this prank James had been planning, and he was sure Sirius and Austin were trying to figure it out as well.  
  
Much later, the old and creepy male librarian had to kick the group out when the library closed. "Get out," he wheezed. "I'm closing for the night, you belong in your beds!"  
  
Reluctantly, they gathered their things and left the library. As the boys exchanged good-byes with Lily, she kept trying to catch Remus' eye, as if to tell him she wanted a word with him. Remus looked around nervously, trying not to let her catch his eye. He didn't want to find out what she knew about him. "Good night, Lily," he called out, while staring at the door across the hall. The boys walked away, leaving Lily looking quite mad.  
  
As soon as they were out of Lily's ear shot, they all began to talk at once.  
  
"What's this prank?" yelled Sirius.  
  
"What is your plan?" said Austin.  
  
"Do you think Ravenclaw's common room is over there?" puzzled James.  
  
"Boy was she mad you wouldn't tell her your plan," Remus said at the same time.  
  
They all looked at each other and laughed. James quickly said, "What did you say, Sirius?" He obviously didn't want to deal with more teasing about Lily's common room.  
  
"I said, what's the prank you're planning?" Sirius repeated.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I want to know, too," Austin said loudly.  
  
"Oh, that...I don't have anything planned yet, I just said that to cover up whatever it was we were talking about." James went on quickly, not wanting to discuss why the others had been laughing at him. "But we do need to start planning something big."  
  
They reached the portrait of the fat lady as James asked Remus to repeat what he'd said. "Oh..I just said Lily sure was mad that you wouldn't tell her your idea, that's all."  
  
James looked puzzled. "You think she really was upset?" His puzzlement changed to concern as all three boys nodded. "Oh, I didn't mean to hurt her feelings."  
  
Sirius slapped James on the back as he gave the password and they entered the common room. "It's ok, James," he said, "We'll just have to come up with something that will knock her socks off."  
  
The next week or so was spent discussing ideas for the next great prank whenever Lily wasn't around, and trying to get her to forgive them for not telling. Remus was also trying very hard to not be alone with Lily. Several times she suggested a private study section, or a walk past the Whomping Willow, but Remus always found an excuse to get out of it, or to bring someone else along. Remus could see that Lily was getting a bit annoyed with him, but he couldn't stand the idea of her finding out the truth. If she confronted him with what she knew, he couldn't lie to her.  
  
Luckily, everyone's attention was soon distracted by the last Quidditch match before Christmas. It was between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. The whole school buzzed with excitement the morning of the match, Remus' friends included. At breakfast, Lily declared, "Even though you won't tell me your secrets..." Here she paused and looked at each of the boys. "...I'll still sit with you and support Gryffindor. After all, you cheered on Ravenclaw at the last match." She grinned broadly, showing her perfect white teeth.  
  
Remus couldn't help but grin back, thankful that she was no longer mad at them all. 'Of course, she's still a bit annoyed with me, but I'll think of something to take her mind off of it,' he thought. Breakfast was soon over, and the whole school made its way down to the quidditch field.  
  
At the match, amidst the shouting and cheering, Remus' mind came up with a great solution. 'What if,' he thought, 'I pretended to visit my mother when it wasn't a full moon? That'd throw everybody off.' Pleased with his thinking, he was free to enjoy the rest of the quidditch match. As he stared in amazement at Gryffindor's spectacular team, James was staring at the seventh year seeker with a look of longing in his eyes.  
  
"Are you ok, James?" Remus inquired.  
  
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just wish I was playing," he grinned sheepishly at his friend. "It's silly, I know, I'll be playing next year probably, but I can't help it. I miss it."  
  
"Ah, there's nothing wrong with that," Sirius said, as the crowded applauded an amazing save by the Gryffindor keeper, who Remus suddenly noticed was Arabella. "At least you were good enough that they wanted you on the team. As soon as I got to tryouts I could see I wouldn't make it."  
  
"You'll play next year," said James confidently. "We'll do nothing but quidditch over the summer to prepare ourselves. And the quidditch World Cup is in France in July, we should see if we could get tickets."  
  
Everyone agreed with this, but Lily's gasp drew their attention back to the game at hand. Both seekers had spotted the snitch at the same time, the problem was it was directly between them, and they were racing from opposite ends of the field towards each other to get it.  
  
"Even if one of them catches it, they'll drop it when they collide," Lily said.  
  
James couldn't speak, he was too wrapped up in the action, but he nodded. Remus didn't even want to watch, he was so scared of what would happen, but at the same time, he couldn't look away. The distance between the seekers was growing shorter and shorter. The Gryffindor seeker shifted both legs to the same side of the broom as she grabbed the snitch. In a split second she would collide with the Hufflepuff seeker, when she pushed herself off of the broom. The broom collided with a bewildered Hufflepuff seeker as everyone stared in amazement at the falling form.  
  
Just as the seeker was about to hit the ground, all of her teammates had gathered in a large circle beneath her. The crowd gasped loudly as she fell into their 12 arms. As soon as they set her down, she began yelling and pumping her fist in the air. The crowd responded with deafening cheers of support. Even some of the Slytherins were applauding loudly.  
  
James wore a look of awe on his face. "That is quidditch, mates," he whispered.  
  
Remus had to agree that that play had to be one of the finest quidditch moments. "They have to have so much trust in each other," he said to James, "and they have to think as a team."  
  
As James nodded, Sirius yelled, "Who cares? It was bloody brilliant."  
  
The five friends laughed as they yelled and clapped and jumped up and down. They would all remember that day for the rest of their lives, not only for the quidditch, but for each other.  
  
It took some time for the crowd to calm down enough to head back to the school, and as they went, they carried the entire Gryffindor team above them. As they neared the door, Lily said quietly to Remus, "Would you like to take a walk with me?"  
  
Remus looked around nervously, trying to decide what to do. James and Sirius were already too far ahead to stop and take with him, but Austin still walked beside Remus. "Good idea, Lily," Remus shouted above the crowd. "Austin, would you like to take a walk with Lily and me?"  
  
Austin shrugged and said, "Sure," as Lily gave Remus a look that could have killed him.  
  
A relieved Remus, an annoyed Lily and a still excited Austin set off to walk about the grounds. As they got farther from the still noisy quidditch crowd, the heavy silence between them became apparent. Austin didn't know what was wrong, but he could tell something was up with his two friends. He tried to start a conversation a couple times, but was thwarted by one-word replies.  
  
As they neared the Whomping Willow, their attention was caught by a group of older boys playing near it. They were running and yelling as some wiser girls watched from a slight distance. Lily called out to one of them. To Remus and Austin she said, "I know a few of them, they're in my house."  
  
"What are they doing?" Lily asked one of the older girls, whose name appeared to be Violet.  
  
"They're seeing if they can get close enough to touch the tree without getting killed," Violet answered. "Stupid boys."  
  
Remus watched, mouth hanging open, as the boys darted around the swinging branches trying to get to the tree. As he watched in disbelief, there was a loud crack as one of the branches made contact with a body, which was now laying flat on the ground.  
  
"Oh no!" yelled Violet, as a couple of the other boys dragged the body out of the way of the tree. "That's Davey Godgeon!" she shrieked.  
  
Remus didn't know who that was, only that he looked older. Lily ran over to the small crowd that was gathering around Davey. "Stand back!" she shouted. "Some one go and get Madam Pomfrey!"  
  
A couple of students ran off immediately, while Lily did what she could to make Davey's unconscious body comfortable. With her handkerchief, she carefully wiped the blood from his face with such compassion that Remus was overcome with emotion. He felt like retching as he realized that Davey wouldn't have gotten hurt if Remus had not come to Hogwarts as a monster.  
  
As the crowd around Davey and Lily started to grow larger, the very large, but young, keeper of the grounds ran over to see what was wrong. This actually caused more of a panic to occur because the ground shook with every leap Hagrid took. One hysterical girl shrieked loudly until someone slapped her. Then Hagrid joined the group and it calmed down a little bit- at least they knew they weren't having an earthquake.  
  
"Wha' happened?" Hagrid said as he struggled to catch his breath.  
  
"He got hit with a branch trying to touch the tree," Violet sobbed.  
  
Hagrid groaned. "Bloody idiot." Then he turned red. "Oops, forgot abou' the language, excuse me." He then joined Lily at Davey's side. After a short time, he sighed. "He'll be fine," he said loudly to the large crowd. "Ge' back to the castle."  
  
Most of the students did as they were asked, but Lily did not leave Davey's side, so Remus and Austin stayed. Madam Pomfrey soon came tearing out of the building, running at full speed to reach her patient. She panted heavily as she performed a quick inspection of Davey's wounds. Then she magicked a stretcher to carry him back to the school with. "He'll be fine," she said, reassuringly. "I just wish we could apparate on school grounds. I could have been here much quicker." With these annoyed words, she took Davey up to the school. Lily stayed behind to walk up with her friends.  
  
Hagrid, the huge keeper of the grounds, walked with them. "Don' know much abou' tha' tree," he said. "I spent par' of last term helping Ogg out, but the tree was planted over the summer. Got no idea how it works." He shook his head.  
  
"Who's Ogg?" Remus asked.  
  
"Oh, he was the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts before I got to be keeper of the grounds. He'd been workin here as long as anyone could remember, he was here when I went to school, and my dad before me." Here Hagrid seemed to have got something in his throat, because he cleared it loudly before continuing.  
  
"And when Ogg told Dumbledore that last year would be his last year, Dumbledore was kind enough to offer me the job of keeper of the grounds. Great man, Dumbledore."  
  
Lily spoke up. "All he did was give you a job, what's so great about that?"  
  
Hagrid's face turned serious. "Well, miss, I got expelled from Hogwarts in me third year, and no one wants to hire a wizard who hasn't finished school and isn't allowed a wand. Dumbledore is a big believer in second chances. A few people tried to change his mind about giving me this job, and the board wouldn't let me have the job of keeper of the keys. They didn't trust me, though Dumbledore tried to convince them. But I have work, good work, and I bet if I do well at this, they'll let me keep the keys as well someday."  
  
Austin stared at Hagrid. "You got expelled?" he asked, shocked. "What did you do?"  
  
"That's not somethin I want to be talkin about," Hagrid said sternly. "By the way, the name's Hagrid. What are yours?"  
  
The three first years introduced themselves, and as they reached the entrance to the castle, Hagrid invited them to visit him at his hut on the edge of the forest sometime soon.  
  
"Sure, Hagrid, we'd love to," Lily said, flashing him one of her gorgeous smiles.  
  
Hagrid smiled back as they walked into the school. "See yeh soon, then!" he called out. 


	8. Remus' Plan

Chapter eight: Remus' Plan  
  
Remus had almost forgotten about Davey while he was making a new friend in Hagrid, but as soon as they passed through Hogwarts' doors, Lily said, "Let's go check on Davey," and pulled them to the hospital wing. Remus wanted to go talk to James and Austin, but he didn't want to upset Lily.  
  
She ran into the hospital wing, causing Madam Pomfrey to say very sternly, "Miss Evans, this is a hospital wing! You'll have to calm down a bit if you want to stay!"  
  
"Sorry, Madam," Lily said sweetly. "I just wanted to see how Davey was doing."  
  
Madam Pomfrey's face softened. "Of course, dear. He'll be fine with a bit of rest."  
  
Lily breathed a sigh of relief as Professor Dumbledore walked briskly into the room. "What's going on Poppy?" he asked. "Is Davey alright?"  
  
"He'll be fine, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey said. "It was that awful Whomping Willow that attacked him though. Some of the boys were trying to see how close they could get without committing suicide." The disapproval in her voice was clear.  
  
"Ah," Dumbledore said nodding. "I will have to make sure the students know the tree is out of bounds. I will make an announcement at dinner tonight." Looking around at Remus, Lily and Austin, he added, "Quite a quidditch match, wasn't it?" Then he winked, and left the wing. Madam Pomfrey quickly shooed everyone else out as well.  
  
Truthfully, Remus was glad to be leaving Davey in the hospital wing. He didn't want to be faced with the horrible things his coming to Hogwarts had caused. He wanted to celebrate the quidditch match with his friends and his entire house and forget all of his problems. As he thought about the party going on in the Gryffindor common room, he realized that Lily couldn't come to the party. She seemed to realize at the same time that she was keeping them from their celebrations.  
  
"I'd better go," she said quickly. "You'll be wanting to get to the party in your tower."  
  
Remus tried to hide his agreement while he said, "Are you sure? We can go hang out somewhere else if you'd like."  
  
Lily smiled at Remus' noble gesture. "Thanks, but I know you really want to find Sirius and James."  
  
Austin smiled and said, "Thanks," as he dragged Remus away. "That was close," he muttered to Remus as they walked away.  
  
"I didn't want to be rude," Remus said, smiling broadly at his friend. They ran off excitedly to their tower. As they got closer, they could hear the roar of a huge party. As the fat lady swung open, the roar heightened to a volume that was sure to cause deafness in Remus and Austin. They grinned excitedly at each other as they joined the party. It took a few minutes to find James and Sirius in that mess of people, but they did find them, and they lost track of the time, until Professor McGonagall came up to the common room. She yelled over the din, "It's time for dinner! And I expect that this awful noise will not continue after dinner is over!" She left, and the students giggled, but they all headed down to dinner.  
  
Lily rejoined her friends at dinner, and they were still excitedly discussing the match, when a single owl entered the hall and flew over to them. It dropped a letter above Remus' head and flew off. He caught it, looking bewildered.  
  
Remus quickly opened his letter. He read the signature first, it was from his father. It read:  
  
Dear Remus, I hope you are doing well at school and enjoying yourself. You've been doing everything Dumbledore says, right? I knew you'd make us proud. Your mother and I are doing fine. Work is very busy right now, but it'll slow down soon. That's all I have time for now, please reply soon. Love, Dad  
  
After reading through it quickly, Remus got a great thought. He could use this letter to pretend that his mother had taken sick again and give him an excuse to leave tomorrow, when he didn't really need to. All of his friends were staring at him when he looked up.  
  
"This isn't the usual mail time, Remus," Lily said. "What does it say?"  
  
"My mother's taken a turn for the worse," Remus muttered, looking down. "I have to go see her tomorrow."  
  
"Oh no," Lily said.  
  
"Do you think she'll be alright?" James asked.  
  
"I am sure she will, but I had better go pack now, so I'll be ready to go," Remus said and left quickly, leaving his friends looking concerned.  
  
As Remus walked quickly back up to the Gryffindor common room, he thought about how lucky it was his dad had written him, and that it was on a Saturday, so he could be gone for a day, but not miss any lessons. Remus didn't think Dumbledore would have allowed him to miss a day of lessons in order to lie to his friends. Hurridly, Remus packed a small bag with a change of clothes and some homework. He set it next to his bed as he stretched out across his bed, closing the curtains around it. He didn't want anyone to ask him about his mother. So he read Quidditch Through the Ages, which James had lent him, until he heard the other boys come to bed. Then he fell asleep quickly.  
  
The next morning Remus awoke before the sun and scribbled a quick note to his friends. It said:  
  
I left really early to visit my mom, I should be back for lessons tomorrow unless she gets worse. I'll see you all tomorrow. Remus  
  
Then he very quietly left his room and walked down the stairs to the common room. He was very surprised to see Arabella sitting in one of the large armchairs by the fire. "You're up early," she said to him.  
  
"Yeah, I've got to go see my mom," Remus said quietly.  
  
"Want me to walk with you? I couldn't sleep," Arabella looked at him, pleadingly.  
  
Remus was surprised even more by the way she asked, like she really needed some company. He didn't really want her to come, but he couldn't leave her like this.  
  
"I'd like that," he said, "Only you'd better not leave the school or you'll get in trouble."  
  
"Ok," she said, getting up. "I'll walk you to the doors." She smiled at him. Remus pushed the door of the tower open and they walked together through the dark halls. The darkness gave Remus courage, and he asked Arabella why she couldn't sleep.  
  
"Oh," she said, and Remus could see her calculating her answer. "I don't know, I've just been having these bad dreams. I get these feelings that our world isn't as safe and as good as it used to be." She paused. "But that's silly, I mean there aren't any dark wizards running about, trying to take over."  
  
"It's not silly," Remus said. "But just because you are having bad dreams doesn't mean any of them are going to happen."  
  
Arabella gave Remus a small smile as they reached the front doors. "You're right, the dreams are just dreams. And the bad feelings are probably just from my troubles with Potions." She laughed.  
  
Remus smiled back at her, and felt the overwhelming urge to give her a hug, to make her feel better. Apparently Arabella also wished to comfort Remus about his mother, because they met in an embrace before Remus pulled away reluctantly and said, "You'll be feeling better soon. But I had better go, my dad is waiting." He opened the heavy doors and with one last look at the older girl, he closed it and walked slowly to the Whomping Willow.  
  
Remus spent the day sleeping and catching up on some homework. He was tempted to take a walk around the forest, but then he remembered what had happened the last time that he had left his shack. As night neared, Remus grew tense and apprehensive, even though he wasn't going to turn into a werewolf. He sat up quite late, too nervous to sleep. Once, he thought he heard voices outside, so he threw some stuff around to scare them away. Finally he drifted of into uneasy sleep. 


	9. Christmas Back Home

Chapter nine: Christmas Back Home  
  
The next month or so passed quickly and uneventfully, and everyone grew excited as Christmas drew near. Remus found out that some students stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas break and some went home. All of Remus' friends were going home, so Remus decided to go home as well. To his delight, James invited the whole gang to his house for the second week of break. Remus was surprised that his parents had agreed to this, he didn't think his mom wanted him around wizards more than necessary.  
  
The last day of the term came, and after a particularly difficult potions lesson, Remus, Sirius, James and Austin retreated to their room and began to pack. After a few minutes, they were surprised to notice Peter sitting on his bed, reading. He usually only came to their room to sleep, now that he was friends with the biggest group of bullies in the school.  
  
"Hi Peter," James said tentatively.  
  
Peter barely looked up. "Hi."  
  
James tried again. "Why aren't you packing to go home?"  
  
"Parents went on a trip. Staying here," Peter replied shortly.  
  
Sirius looked annoyed at the conversation, but said sarcastically, "Where are all of your little friends?"  
  
This made Peter look straight at Sirius, his eyes shooting daggers at him. "Going home." He glared at everyone and went back to reading his book.  
  
Everyone got the hint that they had better leave Peter alone for now, and they were all glad to be leaving him behind, even Austin, who Peter hadn't abandoned.  
  
The packing was quickly finished, and they went down for dinner. Remus inhaled his food, he was so excited to be getting back home, he couldn't wait. It wasn't that he didn't like Hogwarts- he loved it- he just missed his parents and he wanted to share his experiences with them. He also wanted to hear some of the stories from his dad's school days, since they had never spoken of them.  
  
After dinner, Remus played James at wizard chess, but uncharacteristically, lost quite badly because his thoughts were so preoccupied. It seemed like an eternity before it was time for bed, and Remus fell asleep quickly.  
  
The next morning, everyone rushed around, packing last minute things, saying goodbye and taking their trunks to the waiting carriages. After much chaos, the carriages left, taking the students to the Hogwarts Express. Remus, Lily, Sirius, James and Austin shared a compartment on the train. They talked excitedly of what they hoped to receive for Christmas, as well as what they would do when they were all together at James'. As the train pulled into the station, they all bid each other goodbye.  
  
"Have a nice Christmas," Remus called.  
  
"See you all in a week," shouted James.  
  
Remus waved to everyone, then turned around to take his trunk and ran right into Arthur Weasley.  
  
"Hello, Remus," Arthur said smiling. "Happy to be going home for the holidays?"  
  
"Yeah," Remus said, grinning back. Arthur's sister Meg came over and together they went to find their fathers. They were sure that they would be talking to each other, and they were. Nick greeted Remus with a big hug.  
  
"How are you, my boy?" he said warmly.  
  
"I'm good, dad, how's mom?" Remus said.  
  
"She's doing as well as can be expected," Remus' father replied. Meg smiled consolingly at Remus, thinking Nick referred to his wife's illness, when in fact he meant she was dealing with the wizard world as best she could.  
  
Nick and Remus began to say their good-bye's to the Weasleys when Meg interrupted.  
  
"Oh Remus, I almost forgot," Meg exclaimed. "Arabella Figg asked me to give you this, since you had already left when she came looking for you. She's staying at school." Meg held out a small package, wrapped in bright paper.  
  
"Thanks, Meg," Remus said with confusion. Why had Arabella gotten him a present? He hadn't gotten her anything. But Nick nudged Remus and he came out of his daze to say goodbye. Father and son walked together out to the space between platforms 9 and 10.  
  
"It's good to have you back, son," Nick said, his cheeks turning a bit red.  
  
Remus smiled reassuringly. "It's good to be back, dad."  
  
When Remus and his father walked into their house, Remus' mother was waiting at the door for them. Her eyes were shining with tears, but she had a genuine grin of happiness on her face. Before either of them could say anything, she pulled Remus to her in a tight embrace. After a minute or so, she let him go, but held him at an arms length and looked him over.  
  
"You're doing well?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, mom, I like school. But I really missed you guys," Remus said quickly. The last thing he wanted was to upset his mother during their short time together. He was relieved to see her smile back and him.  
  
"We sure miss you, too, honey," she said.  
  
Remus' dad intervened. "Enough of that, we're together for now, let's make the most of it." Remus and his mother agreed, and they sat down around the kitchen table. His parents asked him a million questions about school while they ate dinner.  
  
"So nothing has gone wrong at the full moon...?" Nick's voice trailed off.  
  
"Nope." Remus shook his head. "Dumbledore planned well for me and I have followed all of his instructions." A voice at the back of his head said, 'No you didn't. You came out of the shack and James saw you.' But looking at his parents' relieved faces, Remus pushed the thought aside, telling himself that he had only promised to stay out of danger, not keep his condition a secret.  
  
It was late before Remus got to his room to unpack, and it wasn't until then that he remembered Arabella's present. He quickly found the brightly wrapped package and sat down to unwrap it. It was a book. Remus read the title (That's Wizard's Chess! A Strategy Guide for the New Wizard) and smiled. He could sure use a few pointers. He flipped the book open to read a bit, and a note fell out. 'What's this?' Remus wondered as he picked the parchment up from the floor.  
  
The note said:  
  
Dear Remus, I hope you enjoy the book, I have often noticed you playing chess with Sirius or James in the common room. I also hope you are enjoying your wizarding life. In case you were wondering about Mike, he's a nice kid and I like him, but I have a feeling that you are going to be much more important than him in the future. Have a nice holiday! Your Friend, Arabella  
  
Remus set the book and note aside, feeling a bit confused. What did she mean by he'd be more important to her in the future? But his mind was soon distracted by thoughts of Christmas and seeing Lily and his friends soon, and he forgot about Arabella's strange letter.  
  
Remus spent the next couple of days enjoying his parents' company, reveling in the attention he got from them. His mom was a bit overprotective, but after months at school, the extra attention felt nice for a few days.  
  
Soon, it was Christmas morning. Remus woke early, excited to find so many packages beneath the tree. He tried to wait patiently until his parents woke up, but he was eleven years old and he just couldn't wait. He knocked lightly on the door to his parents' room.  
  
"What is it?" his mom answered sleepily.  
  
Remus pushed the door open and smiled. "It's Christmas morning!!"  
  
His dad laughed. "So it is. We'll be out in a minute. Why don't you look in your stocking while you wait?"  
  
Remus ran out of the room and took his stocking off of the mantle above the fireplace. He took out lots of candies, Muggle candy like Hershey's bars and candy canes as well as wizard treats like chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's beans. He was happily eating a pizza-flavored bean when his parents came into the room.  
  
His mother smiled. "It looks like Santa was extra busy this year."  
  
Remus rolled his eyes. "Mom, I'm too old to believe in Santa."  
  
Nick laughed. "You used to be too old to believe in magic as well."  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that there really is a Santa?" Remus asked, wide eyed (he was after all, only 11.)  
  
"No, son, I'm sorry to say Santa really is a myth," Remus' father said, trying not to laugh at Remus' crestfallen expression. "But there are lots of lovely presents for you under the tree."  
  
Remus' eyes brightened and he began to tear open a package. To his surprise, inside the package was a broom. It was a Comet 50, which James had said was the newest and best broom on the market. Remus looked at his dad in wonder.  
  
"Do you like it?" Nick asked hopefully.  
  
"I love it, dad," Remus said as he gave his dad a big hug. "I can't wait to try it out."  
  
"Now you know you can't take it to school this year, right?"  
  
Remus nodded as his mother said, "It's a good thing, too, that thing looks dangerous."  
  
Remus turned to look at her and opened his mouth to reassure her, when her face broke into a smile. "I'm just kidding, dear. I'm sure you'll be careful." To Remus, his mother's trust in him and his new world was a much better gift than his broom.  
  
Remus opened many more gifts, which were a mixture of Muggle and wizard. His favorites, other than his broom, were an owl, a wizard chess set and a new bike. The bike would be useful for the summer, because riding his broom would have attracted the attention of every Muggle in his town.  
  
Then his parents opened their presents from Remus. His mother was pleased with her bottle of Madam Hubert's perfume, which boasted it "could charm any wizard into a romantic mood." For his father, Remus had bought a book on a local quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons.  
  
"This looks interesting," Nick said, smiling. "I never have gone to see them play. Would you like to go this summer and see them?"  
  
Remus replied excitedly, "Sure dad!" Then he added, "Wait, isn't the World Cup this summer?"  
  
"You're right, it is," his father said. "I'll try and get us some tickets for that instead."  
  
"James, Sirius, Austin, Lily and I all wanted to go together this summer," Remus said.  
  
"That's no problem." His dad smiled. "I'll get enough tickets for all of us."  
  
"Great, dad. Thanks so much!" Remus smiled.  
  
"You're welcome," Nick smiled back. "Now let's get some food in our stomachs."  
  
The Lupins had a pleasant lunch, during which Remus' dad announced to Remus that they would eat Boxing Day dinner with the Weasley family.  
  
"That's great, dad. I haven't gotten much of a chance to talk to Arthur or Meg at school, but they seem really nice," Remus said.  
  
"The whole family is, as I remember, and there are a lot of them I haven't seen in many years," Nick replied.  
  
"I think I remember Mrs. Weasley," Remus' mom ventured. "She seemed very nice."  
  
After lunch, Remus took his new owl to his room. "I need to think of a name for you," he said to his owl. "And then I need you to take letters to my friends to tell them about the World Cup." The brown owl hooted softly as Remus tried to think of a good name. He flipped through one of his schoolbooks for ideas.  
  
"How about Aidan?" Remus said. "That's the name of an Irish wizard who saved a whole town from a blood sucking vampire." The owl hooted loudly in appreciation of the name.  
  
Remus laughed. "That settles it then, Aidan." Then he wrote quick notes to his friends telling them that his dad was going to get them tickets to next summer's world cup. He couldn't resist adding that he had received a Comet 50 broom for Christmas. He tied the notes to Aidan's leg, and Aidan flew out the window to deliver them. 


	10. Adventures in Diagon Alley

Chapter ten: Adventures in Diagon Alley  
  
*** Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Peter Pettigrew was wandering around the school all alone. All of his new friends, Snape, Evan Rosier, Wilkes, Avery and Lestrange, had gone home. He was desperate to talk to someone, but even all of his old friends had gone home for the holidays. Feeling depressed and rejected, he headed to the library to work on homework.  
  
The only other person in the library, besides the elderly librarian, was a seventh year girl who appeared to have fallen asleep. Peter sat quietly at the next table, trying to concentrate on his Herbology homework. Suddenly, the girl sat up. Peter looked over at her, but her eyes were still shut. He was about to go back to his work, when a deep voice came from the girl.  
  
"You have left your friends to seek more powerful allies," it said, though the girl still looked asleep. "But you will be of great help to the greatest Dark Lord ever if you stay friends with Potter, Black and Lupin."  
  
Peter stared in amazement, his mouth hanging wide open. What did this girl know about him and his old friends? Who was this Dark Lord she referred to? He waited in breathless anticipation for her to continue, but another girl came into the library. She looked around, and when she saw the sleeping girl, she came over and shook her.  
  
"Sybill! Wake up!" the girl said, still shaking the sleeping form.  
  
Sybill, the sleeping girl, opened her huge eyes slowly. "What?" she said sleepily.  
  
The second girl looked furious. "Sybill Trelawney! You scared me half to death, I didn't know where you were! Honestly, don't you sleep at night?"  
  
Sybill looked sheepish. "Sorry," she said, gathering her books. "I didn't mean to."  
  
"Let's just go," the second girl said. "The feast will be starting soon."  
  
The two girls left the library and Peter began to gather his belongings slowly. 'What am I going to do?' he thought.  
*** Remus awoke on Boxing Day with a faint feeling that something was not right. He couldn't figure out what it was, but as Aidan flew back in the room with several notes on his leg, Remus thought that he had just been worried about Aidan getting back ok. He pushed the worried thoughts from his mind and opened his notes.  
  
Remus opened the first note. It was from James.  
  
Remus,  
  
You got a Comet 50? That is so cool. Bring it to my house so we can all try it. Also, tell your dad thanks for trying to get us World Cup tickets. I got a pretty neat Christmas gift myself, but I have to show it to you for you to believe it!  
  
James  
  
Remus shook his head. James couldn't help trying to outdo Remus' gift. The next two notes, from Sirius and Austin were similar to James', except they didn't try to brag about the presents they had received. The last letter was from Lily. Remus had saved it for last on purpose. He opened it, feeling nervous, but not knowing why.  
  
Remus,  
  
It's good to hear you've had a nice holiday so far, and that your dad is getting us quidditch tickets. I wish we were all together at James' already. My sister Petunia is being a major pain. She never liked me in the first place, but now she hates me because I'm a witch and mom and dad are so proud of me. I miss my mom and dad while I'm at school, but being at home is driving me CRAZY!! I'll see you in two days!  
  
Yours, Lily  
  
Remus was glad that Lily wanted to see everyone again, but he felt bad that he had to put up with a sister like that. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Come in," he said.  
  
It was his mother who poked her head into his room. "You had better get dressed so we can be on our way to the Weasleys. What have you been doing in here for so long?" she asked.  
  
"I kinda slept in and then I was reading the letters that Aidan brought me. I'll be ready in a few minutes." Remus smiled at his mother who smiled back.  
  
"Alright," she said, closing the door.  
  
Quickly, Remus considered what he should wear. He thought about his school robes, but decided on a pair of jeans and a nice striped shirt. He combed his hair and went to join his mother and father, who were standing near the fireplace.  
  
"I'm all set," he announced cheerfully. "How are we getting to the Weasley's house?"  
  
"By floo powder," his father answered.  
  
"What's that?" Remus asked, puzzled.  
  
"You simply throw the powder into the fire, say where you want to go and step into the fire. You will be taken to the fireplace of your destination, which in this case is the Burrow," his father explained.  
  
Remus looked at him in alarm. "You step into the fire?"  
  
Nick smiled. "It won't hurt you. Watch, your mother will go first, then you can try it."  
  
His mother looked very nervous, like she'd much rather walk across England to the Burrow than go by floo powder, but she threw some onto the fire, and stepped in, saying "the Burrow" as she did. She disappeared.  
  
"Wow," Remus said, amazed.  
  
"Your turn," his dad said, giving him some floo powder. Remus threw it on the fire and said "the Burrow?" very hesitantly as he stepped into the flames. He only had a moment to be surprised that his legs weren't burning before he was whisked away to a strange fireplace. He stepped out and saw his mother being embraced by a friendly looking woman with red hair.  
  
"Haven't seen you in so long, dear," Mrs. Weasley said to Remus' mother. Then she noticed Remus standing in the cluttered kitchen and said, "You must be Remus. It's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
Remus smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Mrs. Weasley."  
  
Just then, Nick stepped forward out of the fireplace. "We all made it ok?" he said, looking around.  
  
Mrs. Lupin smiled at him. "We're all here, dear."  
  
Mr. Weasley said to Remus, "Arthur is up in his room if you want to go join him. It's the first to the right at the top of the stairs."  
  
Remus took his time finding Arthur's room. He wanted to see the house first. It was small, but it was well kept up and looked very happy. Downstairs there was a kitchen and a sitting room, and as Remus climbed the stairs, he discovered there were three bedrooms. He knocked on Arthur's door. He heard the noise of something being shoved under a bed as Arthur called out "Who is it?"  
  
"It's Remus," Remus answered.  
  
The door opened. "Oh, come in, Remus. I thought it was my mother and she doesn't like my Muggle collections. I was trying to hide them."  
  
"What are you collecting?" Remus asked, very interested.  
  
"At the moment, Muggle soda cans. See how many I have?" Arthur looked so proud of his collection that Remus had to force himself to look excited. After all, the soda cans Arthur had were the same kinds Remus had been around all of the time for seven years of his life.  
  
To hide his laughter, Remus coughed into his hand. "I might have a few more at home I could bring you," he managed to say.  
  
Arthur's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I'd appreciate that a lot. But don't say anything to mother, she thinks these things are a waste of time. So does Molly, actually." He appeared to be lost in thought.  
  
"Who is Molly?" Remus asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, you'll meet her today. She's my girlfriend, but she graduated last year," Arthur said, only turning a bit red.  
  
Soon, the other guests arrived for dinner and they all sat down to eat. Remus met Molly, who had hair as fiery red as Arthur's. Also in attendance was a Mr. Diggory, a widower with a grown son named Amos. Apparently, he lived close by the Burrow.  
  
Remus loved every minute of the dinner. He really enjoyed the people, the food and the family feeling. He was sorry to have to say goodbye, but after dessert, he and his dad could tell his mother was ready to go home. They politely excused themselves and used the floo powder to get back to their home. Seeing all of his nice presents around reminded Remus of something.  
  
"Hey dad," he said. "Will you take me to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning? I didn't have time to get gifts for my friends and I'm going to James' tomorrow afternoon."  
  
Remus' father looked at his mother as if asking a question with his glance. She nodded and his father answered, "Sure, son. I'd be happy to take you there."  
  
"Thanks, dad!" Remus said, throwing his arms around his father.  
  
"You're welcome, Remus, but you'll have to get to bed now so we can make an early start."  
  
"Sure, dad. Goodnight!" Remus called as he ran off to his room. As he fell asleep, he tried to figure out what to get each of his friends.  
  
The morning came quickly and after a nice home cooked breakfast, Remus and his dad used floo powder to get to Diagon Alley. Once they were out on the street, Remus couldn't help but marvel at the strange people and shops. He still wasn't used to seeing large numbers of adults dressed in colorful robes. The shops were interesting enough to hold any wizard's attention for days, no matter how many times he'd seen them before. There was a quidditch shop, an ice cream parlor, Gringotts Bank, Ollivandor's Wands, Flourish and Blott's book store and many others. Remus didn't even know where to start; he just stared.  
  
Luckily, his dad noticed that Remus wasn't going to make a choice on his own, so he said, "Didn't you say James and Sirius are big quidditch fans? Maybe we should start in the quidditch supply shop."  
  
Remus nodded and followed his dad to the shop. In the window was another Comet 50, as well as a copy of the robes England's quidditch team wore. "Wow," Remus gasped.  
  
Nick laughed. "Wait until you get inside."  
  
Inside the shop were racks of multicolored quidditch robes, shelves of racing brooms and miscellaneous merchandise from all of England's quidditch teams. Remus wanted to look at everything, but he knew he didn't have hours to spend browsing. After looking around for a few minutes for the perfect gifts for James and Sirius, Remus came across a book of quidditch plays. It covered every player, from the seeker to the keeper. Remus knew that James would love it. Now he just had to find something for Sirius.  
  
Remus looked all around the store, but nothing caught his eye except for the expensive items, like the brooms and robes. He decided to look for a present for Sirius at another store, and he took James' book up to the register to pay for it. On the counter in the front of the store were packs of quidditch trading cards, featuring international quidditch players. The wizard on the front of the pack was smiling and waving at Remus. Remus smiled back. The cards looked amusing and he was sure that Sirius would love seeing players from around the world. He purchased several packs for Sirius and one for himself. The player on the front of the package was cheering and waving his arms about as the store-owner put Remus' purchases in a bag.  
  
Remus left the store with his father who asked him who he had left to shop for.  
  
"Austin, Lily and Arabella," Remus replied.  
  
"Who is Arabella?" his dad asked, smiling.  
  
Remus could feel his face growing hot, but he didn't know why. "She's a second year who helped me find our tower on the first day of school. We talk sometimes."  
  
"Oh. Do you know what you want to get her or Austin or Lily?"  
  
"I want to get Austin a wizard chess set so he can really learn how to play, and I want to get Lily a pet, a cat maybe."  
  
"Ok, well we can get the chess set first and then go browse the magical creatures store," his father said.  
  
It didn't take long to pick out a chess set, and father and son were soon in the magical creatures shop, surrounded by owls, cats, toads and several kinds of animals Remus couldn't name. Remus looked at the cats first, but decided against one, since they were a lot of work and Lily's Muggle family might not appreciate the gift. He browsed a little while longer, then he came upon the toads. They were cuter than he expected, despite the fact that they weren't furry. He picked out an intelligent looking orange toad for Lily. He took it to the counter where he also purchased a cage and some toad food. Then he dragged his father away from the dancing rats that held his attention and they went back out onto the street.  
  
"Where do you want to look for Arabella's present? We don't have much longer if you want to stop for ice cream sundaes before we go home," Remus' dad said, looking at his watch.  
  
Remus thought for a moment. The only interest he knew Arabella had besides quidditch was in their Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. "Is there a store that sells Defense Against the Dark Arts stuff?" he asked his dad.  
  
"I think so," he replied. "Down that way." He pointed.  
  
"Well, let's look there and then go get some ice cream," Remus said. His dad agreed and they walked in the direction he had indicated.  
  
The shop was called Smith's Defense Shoppe, and it was filled with all sorts of interesting things. There were sneakoscopes, some horrible looking restraining devices, books how to defeat certain creatures as well as biographies of famous dark wizards and aurors. In the background was a humming noise, which Remus realized was coming from an odd looking machine called a Secrecy Sensor. He wanted to look at absolutely everything, but he knew there wasn't time.  
  
He was glancing over everything when a mirror caught his eye. It didn't show the store, instead there were several shadowy figures in the background. Remus watched in amazement as one of the figures walked out of sight and one grew close enough to make out its features. A voice behind Remus said, "Interested in the Foe Glass, are you?"  
  
Remus jumped three feet in the air, he was so startled. "What does it do, sir?" he managed to reply calmly.  
  
"It shows your enemies. When they get close enough that you can tell what color their eyes are, you'd better watch out, because they really close," the man replied.  
  
"Cool," Remus said under his breath. He asked the man how much they cost and he decided to buy one for Arabella. 'Not that she needs to watch out for enemies, but it will be fun, and she could probably use it later,' Remus reasoned.  
  
As the man wrapped up the mirror, he asked, "What is your name? Your dad does look familiar, but I can't figure out how I know him."  
  
"I'm Remus Lupin, and that's my dad, Nick," Remus answered.  
  
"Nice to meet you Remus, I'm Mr. Smith. I thought your dad left the wizard world."  
  
"He did, but when I got accepted at Hogwarts, he thought he'd give me a chance to decide," Remus explained.  
  
Mr. Smith smiled. "Well tell him I said hi. And enjoy your Foe Glass."  
  
Remus grinned back. "Thanks, sir, I will."  
  
Remus and his dad enjoyed ice cream sundaes at the ice cream parlor while watching all of the interesting people walk by. Then they traveled back to their house.  
  
Remus' mother looked very relieved to see them. He wished he had time to tell her about their shopping to reassure her before he left, but there just wasn't time. He quickly wrapped up the presents he had bought his friends and put them in his trunk along with some of his new presents, like his chess set. He grabbed his broom and went out to join his parents in the kitchen.  
  
"I'm ready to go," he announced.  
  
His father gave him a big hug. "It's been nice having you back, Remus. Have fun at the Potters' and be sure to thank them for having you."  
  
"I will dad," Remus answered. Then he turned to his mom. She gave him a huge hug that threatened to break his ribs, but there were no tears in her eyes.  
  
"Have a nice term, dear," she said.  
  
"Mom, I'll be back here for a day before I go back to school," Remus said.  
  
"Oh," she said smiling. "You're right. Be on your best behavior and have a good time."  
  
"I will," Remus said as he took some floo powder and threw it on the fire. He stepped in, taking his trunk and broom with him and yelled, "The Meadow!"  
  
Instantly, he fell out of a fireplace into a large and luxuriously furnished sitting room. Remus stood up and brushed himself off. "Welcome to the Meadow," James said, smiling. 


	11. The Nightmare at the Meadow

Chapter eleven: The Nightmare at the Meadow  
  
"Hello, James," Remus replied. "Is anyone else here yet?"  
  
"Sirius is here somewhere," James said, laughing. "Probably looting the kitchen."  
  
Remus chuckled. "That sounds about right." He looked around the room in amazement. There were several large leather chairs arranged about the room. The walls were paneled in a dark wood and the carpet was so thick and soft Remus sank an inch into it. He turned to look at the fireplace he had fallen out of. It was huge, about 5 feet high and four across, and surrounded in marble.  
  
James noticed Remus' staring. "Like the room, do you?" he asked.  
  
Remus nodded, dumbfounded. He had never been in a house this nice.  
  
"When everyone's here I'll give you a tour," James said.  
  
Finding his voice, Remus marveled, "You're so lucky to live in a house like this, James."  
  
James shrugged. "It's nice, but I don't need all of the fancy stuff. As long as it is comfortable and I have my family and friends, I'm happy."  
  
As Remus nodded, there was a large popping noise and Lily fell out of the fireplace, stumbling on the marble. When she caught her balance (and Remus had caught his breath) she said, "Hello, boys. How was your Christmas?"  
  
They both told her their holidays were fine. Lily looked about the room as Austin came in through the immense fireplace.  
  
"Holy smokes," Austin said. "Nice place, James."  
  
"Thanks," James said. Then he rang a little bell in the corner of his room. A small and rather ugly creature came into the room.  
  
"Yes, sir?" it said in a small voice. "What can I do for you, sir?"  
  
"Could you please take my friends' trunks to their rooms while I take them on a tour of the house?" James asked the small creature, who was wearing only a bit of fabric tied about its waist.  
  
"It would be my pleasure, sir," the creature said excitedly, as he began to pull one of the trunks from the room.  
  
"Thanks, Pokey," James said. "Come on guys, let's get Sirius and I'll show you the house."  
  
As they left the room, Remus looked back at the creature with the big ears and huge brown eyes. "What is that?" Remus asked.  
  
"That's our house elf, Pokey," James replied.  
  
"Is he like a servant?" Lily inquired.  
  
"Kinda. All of his family has worked for our family. House elves belong to a certain family and they devote their lives to doing things for the family and keeping their secrets and stuff," James explained.  
  
"Do they get paid for all that work?" Remus asked.  
  
"No, they don't want to get paid for it. They like what they do."  
  
"That sounds horrid!" Lily exclaimed. "What if their masters are awful people?"  
  
"Some families are pretty cruel to their house elves," James said. "They force them to punish themselves for bad behavior and tell them to do things they aren't capable of doing. They see them only as slaves and not as individuals. That's why we treat our house elf really well. We're always polite to Pokey, and we make him as comfortable as he'll allow us to."  
  
Austin piped up. "That doesn't sound bad, then. As long as you treat them nice, it's a win-win situation."  
  
By that time they had reached the kitchen and found Sirius there, eating sweets off of a large tray. "Hello everyone," he said. "Would you like to help me eat this food? Pokey seemed to think I needed to be fattened up."  
  
Everyone laughed and sat down to finish the sweets before they got the grand tour of the Meadow.  
  
Sirius, of course, knew the house almost as well as James did, since he had grown up with James. As they led Remus, Lily and Austin around the house, they related stories of the trouble they made in the house and where they went to hide from it. James showed them a couple of secret passages, one of which led out to the stable. They also walked through 8 grand bedrooms, which all had their own bathroom, the crowded and dusty attic which had been James and Sirius' secret headquarters, the kitchen full of modern appliances, a dining room with a table large enough to seat 20 people, an entrance hall, a library complete with billiard table, and another sitting room that contained a large grand piano. Remus, Lily and Austin were breathless with amazement.  
  
"Do all pure wizarding families live like this?" Austin asked.  
  
Remus knew the answer to this because he had just been at the Weasley's house. They were a very old and pure family, but lived simply and happily.  
  
"No," James answered. "But some ancestor of ours was the first maker of cauldrons in England and so we've always had money in the family. My dad's company still makes some fancy cauldrons, but we're not as involved in the industry as we used to be." It was obvious that James was unimpressed with the money and luxury he had been born into. "My dad expects me to take control of the company when I'm older, but I'd rather sell it and spend my time traveling the world defending helpless wizards or something."  
  
Remus definitely sympathized with James' views and he could tell Lily felt the same way. "You shouldn't have to be tied down to some office job you don't like if that's not what you want to be doing," she exclaimed.  
  
Smiling, Sirius said, "He's got plenty of time to work that out, Lily. I'm more interested in seeing you all open the presents I got you."  
  
His suggestion was met with enthusiastic shouts. James showed each of them the room they would live in for a week and suggested they meet in the sitting room with the piano in 15 minutes to exchange gifts.  
  
Looking around his room, Remus still could not believe how nice it all was. The bed appeared to be a king size, with a large carved headboard, and covered in a dark blue comforter. Remus flopped himself down on the bed and sunk into the down that filled the bedspread. Across the room were two French doors that were about 10 feet tall. Getting off of the bed, Remus went to investigate what was outside the doors. There was a balcony that appeared to go all around the house. Beyond the balcony was a field of snow as far as the eye could see, broken only by the dark shape of the stable. ' So that's why it's called the Meadow,' he thought. Remus knew he must be at the back of the mansion because he couldn't see any other houses. Looking back into the room, he noticed a small fireplace that wasn't yet lit, and the door to the bathroom. He opened the door and walked in, wanting to wash his hands before joining the others.  
  
He was amazed to find that instead of a normal bathtub, there was a circular tub that was 5 feet in diameter and about 4 feet deep. It looked more like a hot tub than a bathtub. Remus couldn't wait to try it out, but he knew he had to get back to his friends. He quickly washed his hands and got the presents out of his trunk. It took him a few minutes to find the room they were meeting in, and when he got there, everyone else was waiting.  
  
They all exchanged gifts and tore through the wrapping paper. Lily was thrilled with her new pet toad, which she named Chester. James immediately began to read his book of quidditch plays and Sirius was waving at his trading cards. Austin started to set up his chess set and asked if anyone wanted to play. Remus was happy to see that everyone liked what he had given them. He was equally happy to see what presents he had received. Austin had bought him large quantities of candy, especially chocolate frogs. Lily had given him a small radio that was capable of receiving the frequencies of wizarding radio stations. James and Sirius had pooled their money to buy Remus a quaffle and a small hoop to set up in his backyard to practice quidditch.  
  
It was getting very noisy in the sitting room with everyone yelling excited "thank you"s and "look at this!" But all of the noise stopped when James' parents walked into the room. They were definitely people who demanded your respect. For one extremely long moment, Remus thought they were all going to be in trouble. But then their seemingly stern faces broke into huge smiles.  
  
"Hello," Mrs. Potter said. "How are you all doing?"  
  
All at once they answered, "Fine."  
  
James stood up. "Let me introduce you," he said. "Mother and Father, these are my friends Remus, Lily and Austin." To his friends he said, "And these are my parents, Victoria and William Potter."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Mr. Potter said.  
  
"No, the pleasure is all mine," Sirius said in a high voice while rolling his eyes. Everyone laughed and felt much more relaxed. Mrs. Potter sat down at the piano and played some Christmas carols while everyone sang along. They had a very good time and too soon it was time for dinner  
  
Dinner was a very grand affair. Remus had only seen so much food on one table at Hogwarts start of the term feast. The food was delicious, too. He wanted to try all of it, but he was just too full. All seven of them at the table sat back trying to catch their breath as Pokey cleared the dishes from the table. James had tried to persuade the house elf to eat dinner at the table with them, but Pokey had looked angrily at James as he told him that the place of a house elf was not at his master's table.  
  
As Pokey took away the last of the dishes, James said, "Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?"  
  
Remus, Sirius and Austin immediately agreed, but Lily looked unsure. "Shouldn't we help with the dishes?" she asked.  
  
James rolled his eyes. "It's a nice thought, but Pokey wouldn't let you within a mile of dirty dishes if you offered to clean them. Believe me, I've tried."  
  
Lily shrugged and smiled at her friends. "Alright then, let's play exploding snap!"  
  
It was late before any of them went to bed. When they were together, they lost track of time. Back in his room, Remus was tempted to take a bath before bed (the tub looked too inviting) but he was just too tired.  
  
The next two days passed very pleasantly. Remus really enjoyed being with his friends and not having to worry about lessons. He learned several new wizard games and let everyone take a turn on his broom. His third night there, he ate something that didn't agree with him and went to bed a bit early. In the middle of the night, he awoke at the sound of his own voice screaming in fright. He sat up straight, panting and sweating, even though the fire in his room had gone out.  
  
Trying to forget the horrible images of his wolfish form tearing at the flesh of innocent victims, he laid back down, shuddering violently. He wondered why he had had this dream again. It had come once before, soon after he had first transformed. Only a minute had passed since he had screamed, but the interval felt like years. A knock on his door brought pulled him back from the edge.  
  
"I'm fine," he said, his voice shaking. Whoever it was, he wanted them to go away without asking any questions.  
  
To his dismay, the door opened. Lily's voice floated through the air to him. "You don't sound fine," she said as she came all of the way into the room.  
  
"It was just a bad dream," Remus said, hoping he didn't sound as desperate for her to leave as he felt. She was the last person he wanted to be involved with his monstrous side.  
  
Lily smiled sympathetically and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Would it help you to talk about it? I always feel better when I do. It makes nightmares seem less real."  
  
His mind was spinning rapidly with desire. He desperately wanted to things and his brain was battling for a decision to be made. He wanted her to leave, was willing to use force as long as she didn't ask any more questions. But he wanted to grab her and hold her close to him, run his fingers through her long hair. She was looking at him closely, waiting for an answer.  
  
As the look on her face changed from sympathy to concern, one of his desires won out and he lost all self-control. He bellowed, "GET OUT!" as he lunged at Lily, attempting to knock her onto the floor. Reacting quickly, Lily moved out of the way, but Remus couldn't stop himself. He fell off the side of the bed and landed with a loud thud. The fall seemed to restore some of his senses because he stopped yelling and didn't try to stop Lily from coming over to help him.  
  
She helped him sit up. "That must have been some awful dream," she said, still holding his hands tightly in hers. "You don't have to talk about it. Do you really want me to leave?"  
  
Remus shook his head silently as tears ran down his cheeks. "Alright," she said. "Do you want to talk about something else or do you want to go back to bed?"  
  
"I think I'll take a bath," Remus said quietly. "It'll clear my mind and then I should be able to sleep."  
  
Lily nodded as if she understood. "Do you want me to stay until you are ready for bed?"  
  
For a moment, Remus was tempted to say yes, but he thought better of it and shook his head. "No, I'll be fine," he answered, standing up.  
  
Lily stood as well. Her green eyes were locked with his and there was a look on her face that caused Remus to wonder if she was thinking the same thing that he was. After a moment, she shook her head, as if waking herself up. "Good night," she whispered.  
  
The door closed behind her and Remus stood still for a minute longer. Then he, too, shook his head to wake himself and proceeded to run the bath water. 


	12. Surprises and Secrets

Chapter twelve: Surprises and Secrets  
  
After a long, warm bath, Remus had no trouble falling back to sleep. When he woke up the next day, he remembered what had happened and felt horrible about how he treated Lily. He was also nervous about how she would act towards him. He didn't know what to expect as he entered the dining room for breakfast.  
  
"Good morning, Remus," Mrs. Potter said, smiling. "Are you feeling better? You did sleep for a long time."  
  
Remus tried to smile back. "I'm feeling much better thanks." He looked around the table at his friends. They all smiled at him.  
  
"I'm glad you'll be able to play today, Remus," James said. "I've got something great planned for us to do."  
  
Remus looked at Lily, who hadn't looked at him any differently today as she always had. He felt very relieved that they were going to put the whole scene behind them. "What is it, James?" Remus asked as he sat down to eat.  
  
"Well," James said, looking intently at them all. "I haven't showed you my best Christmas present yet, have I?"  
  
They shook their heads slowly. Remus had forgotten all about James' gift. All of them tried to get James to say what his present was, but he wouldn't say another word at the table. Remus gave up and began to eat. It had seemed to him that his plate had more food on it than anyone elses, but he figured he was just self-conscious about being the last one still eating.  
  
When Remus was done and Pokey came in to clear his dishes, his belief that he was getting special treatment was confirmed. Pokey was carrying a tray with a warm towel on it. He held out the tray to Remus. "Here, sir," he said in a squeaky voice. "This is for you to clean up with, sir." Remus noticed tears in Pokey's huge eyes and looked at James for help.  
  
"Take it," James mouthed silently.  
  
Remus took the towel and said, "Thank you, Pokey."  
  
Pokey bowed low and said, "It is the least I can do, sir. Let Pokey know if there is anything else I can do for you." Then he retreated to the kitchen.  
  
"What was that all about?" Remus demanded.  
  
James rolled his eyes, but began to explain. "Pokey feels bad that you got sick last night. He figures it was something wrong with his cooking and he blames himself. He just wants to make sure you're all right."  
  
Looking very indignant, Remus said, "But I'm fine. And I don't blame Pokey!"  
  
"You'll make him feel worse if you don't let him take care of you," James warned. "He'll be offended."  
  
Remus sighed. "Oh, alright, but I hope it doesn't last long."  
  
Sirius interrupted. "As interesting as it is to discuss what offends a house elf, I would really like to find out what James got for Christmas that is so cool."  
  
Everyone agreed and James said, "Ok, go sit in the room with the piano and wait for me. But leave the door open."  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Potter smiled knowingly as the five children left the dining room.  
  
Remus, Lily, Austin and Sirius sat down in the piano room, anxious and a bit perplexed. What did James have in store for them? They all wondered. Was it a joke or did he really have this present he'd been bragging about? After about 5 minutes, Lily said, "I don't think he's coming…." But she trailed off as music started to fill the room.  
  
"What's going on?" Austin said. "Are there speakers in the walls or something?"  
  
"I don't think so," Sirius said pointing. "The piano keys are moving, like someone is playing."  
  
Remus strained his eyes towards the piano bench. He couldn't see anything but Sirius was right, the music was definitely coming from the piano. "Is it…." Remus started to say.  
  
"It's a ghost!" Austin yelled and they all ran from the room. Lily shut the door behind them (which Sirius yelled was useless, since a ghost could go through it) and they all ran into the kitchen, where Pokey was still at work washing dishes.  
  
"What is wrong, sirs and miss?" Pokey asked in a worried squeak.  
  
"The ghost is after us!" Austin yelled dramatically.  
  
"What ghost, sir?" Pokey said respectfully, but doubtfully. "There is no ghost in the Meadow, sirs and miss. Pokey would know if there was. Pokey knows everything about this house."  
  
Lily looked confusedly at the house elf. "Then what was playing the piano? There was music and the keys were moving, but no one was there!"  
  
Pokey's face lit up for a moment, but then returned to its usual solemn expression. "Pokey doesn't know, miss."  
  
"But you just said you knew everything about this house!" Lily sputtered angrily.  
  
This was too much for Pokey. "Pokey does know everything about this house, but Pokey also knows what a good house elf is supposed to do." Then he gasped. "Sorry, miss, Pokey meant no disrespect."  
  
"It's fine, Pokey," Lily said. "I deserved it. But tell us what was going on, please!"  
  
Pokey was shaking his head and saying, "Sorry, miss," when laughter filled the room. Everyone looked around suspiciously, but only their own scared expressions were visible.  
  
With a rustle of fabric, James appeared in the middle of the kitchen, holding a silvery cloak. Everyone except for Pokey gasped out loud. "James?" Remus stared in amazement. "What is – how did you-?"  
  
James laughed at the sight of his friends pale faces and his house elf's obvious glee. "What a good trick, sir!" Pokey exclaimed.  
  
"James, what exactly just happened?" Lily demanded.  
  
"This is my Christmas present," he said simply, holding up the cloak. "It's an invisibility cloak." To demonstrate, he swung the cloak around his body, which instantly disappeared, leaving only his head visible. Remus could tell that this wasn't ordinary, even for wizards, because Sirius looked just as amazed as Lily and Austin did.  
  
Sirius was the first to speak. "I've always wanted one of those, but I heard they're really rare." He stared longingly at the space where James' body should have been visible.  
  
"They are," James said. "I didn't know we had one, but I guess it's been handed down in our family for a long time. My dad had it when he was at Hogwarts." He took the cloak off. "You guys want to try it?"  
  
Of course, they all did, and they had a great time watching each other disappear, but they each had more fun when it was their turn to be invisible. Remus wanted to touch Lily's long hair while he was concealed by the cloak, but he realized he was still solid and she would know it was him who had touched her. Instead, he picked up a cookie and threw it at James, who yelled, "Food fight!" Remus had the advantage not only because the others couldn't see where he was, but because they were laughing too much to fight back.  
  
"You have no idea how funny it looks," Lily said between giggles. "To see food floating in the air and then come flying at you. Or to throw something and see it bounce off of 'thin air' when it hits you."  
  
When they had all had a turn (except for Pokey who protested that it wasn't his place) the cloak was covered in crumbs and they were all exhausted. "That sure is a great present," Remus said. "But did you have to scare us like that in order to show it to us?"  
  
James grinned broadly. "Of course not, but it was more fun!"  
  
They spent the rest of the day exploring the secret passages and experimenting with the cloak. Unfortunately, not all five of them could be completely covered by it, but they had fun splitting up and trying to find the ones who had the cloak on. At one point, James, Sirius and Remus were under the cloak, trying to keep away from Lily and Austin. They were about to be cornered by their friends and they were frantically searching for a hiding place.  
  
"We have to be where they can't reach us," James whispered. "They know we're around here and they're bound to bump into us soon."  
  
At the same moment, they all noticed a difference in the panel of wall they were in front of. "Hey," Sirius said softly. "I wonder if this is…." They all began poking and pulling on the panel. It was James whose fingers found the latch that swung the door open. They quickly got in and shut the door behind them.  
  
"Did you know this was here, James?" Sirius asked.  
  
James shook his head dumbly. "I don't think my dad even knows this is here. Let's see where it goes." They abandoned the cloak at the door, since it was easier to move without it and it was unlikely that Lily and Austin would find the secret door. They walked for a few minutes through the small passage. It didn't run straight, it made several sharp turns and sloped up and down. When they came to the end, they all started feeling the walls, trying to open a door.  
  
"I wonder where we are now," Sirius whispered. He didn't have long to wonder, Remus found the hidden catch as soon as Sirius was done speaking. The door swung out and they found themselves facing…  
  
Pokey the house elf. Pokey screamed and dropped a bowl in alarm. "How are you sirs getting to the kitchen?" he gasped.  
  
James grinned. "We found a new secret passage, Pokey. Sorry if we scared you."  
  
Pokey looked perplexed. "Pokey did not know there was a passage to the kitchen, sirs." He now looked crestfallen. "Pokey thought he knew everything about this house."  
  
"It's alright, Pokey, nobody remembered it was here. It's not your fault someone forgot it a long time ago," James said, looking as if he wanted to give Pokey a reassuring pat on the back. He held himself back, though and Pokey calmed down a bit.  
  
"If you say so, sir. But sirs must be good at finding secret passages to find one that was hidden from Pokey and his family for so long."  
  
The three friends looked at each other and smiled. "I guess we could be good at it," James said.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius said excitedly. "And I'll bet Hogwarts is full of all sorts of secret passages, it's so old. We could find them all before we graduate!"  
  
James looked as if it were Christmas, his birthday and the last day of school all rolled into one. "That's the best idea I've ever heard!" he yelled. "We'll find every secret passage we can and make a map that only we can read! We'll be able to do whatever we want whenever we want!"  
  
Remus was just as excited as Sirius and James were. He loved exploring and hanging out with his friends. "I can't wait to get started!" he cried.  
  
They began to talk excitedly (and loudly) about where the most likely places for these secret passages when two familiar voices were heard approaching the kitchen. "Austin and Lily!" Remus shouted. "I forgot they were still looking for us!"  
  
"Let's not tell them about our plans for Hogwarts just yet," James said. "We'll surprise them later."  
  
Austin and Lily were astonished to see their friends in the kitchen with a portion of the wall opened like a door.  
  
"How the heck did you get down here?" Austin shouted.  
  
"Why is the wall hanging open?" Lily demanded.  
  
Sirius and James were laughing too much to answer, so Remus explained. "You two were about to corner us in the other room, so we were trying to find a place to hide. All of a sudden, the wall popped open and we followed the secret passage to the kitchen."  
  
Austin stared at them, eyes and mouth wide open. "You found a secret passage? One that no one knew about?"  
  
James grinned proudly. "Yep."  
  
"Can we go back through? I'd like to see it," Lily said.  
  
"Sure," Sirius chimed in. "We left the cloak in there anyway."  
  
It was a tight fit for the five of them to go down the secret hallway, but they were all too excited to care. They got to the dead end, where James picked up his cloak and they all practiced opening the door. Once they all had the hang out opening it from the inside and the outside, they went in search of James' dad.  
  
They found him in the library, reading a thick book in front of a roaring fire. He looked up at them when they burst into the room. "Hello," he said smiling.  
  
Slightly out of breath, James asked, "Dad, did you know there was a secret passage from piano room to the kitchen?"  
  
Mr. Potter looked just as astonished as his son had been. "There is? Show me!" The look of excitement on his face made him look as if he were 11 again. They went into the passage through the kitchen this time. Luckily Pokey was off cleaning another room. Remus didn't want to see him apologizing again for not knowing everything about the house.  
  
As they walked through the passage, Mr. Potter kept exclaiming, "How wonderful" and "I can't believe it." Remus was quite amused at this child like behavior and he could tell from the look that Lily gave him that she was too. 


	13. An Unexpected Apology

A/N: Sorry for the delay between chapters. I was on vacation. Expect more regular posting now.  
  
Chapter thirteen: An Unexpected Apology  
  
At lunch that day, Remus was abnormally quiet. He was thinking that he would like a secret passage in his house when he was older because he could hide in there at the full moon. He was very grateful that December's full moon had fallen more in the middle of the month so it hadn't interfered with his Christmas plans. He was trying to recall the date of the next full moon when James' voice interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"What?" Remus said, coming back to the present.  
  
"I said, do you want to go have a snowball fight after lunch?" James repeated.  
  
Remus smiled. "Yeah, that'll be fun!"  
  
The rest of the week passed just as pleasantly. They celebrated the New Year with glasses of sparkling grape juice and Remus had no more bad dreams. All too soon it was time to leave. Remus was sad to go, even though he'd only be away from his friends for a day.  
  
The day passed quickly. Remus told his parents about his week, except for James' cloak and the secret passage. Then he packed all of his things. He looked longingly at his broom, but he had to leave it at home. Soon enough it was time to meet the train back to Hogwarts. His mother accompanied Remus and his father this time.  
  
Once they were on Platform 9 3/4, Remus started to look around anxiously for his friends. His father laughed. "Wait, Remus, let us say goodbye and you can join your friends."  
  
Remus grinned. "Sorry."  
  
His father hugged him. "Keep up with your work, son. You could be at the top of your class, you know."  
  
Remus nodded. "Ok, dad. I will."  
  
His mother hugged him next. She held him tight a moment longer than necessary, but Remus was glad to see that she wasn't crying. "Take care," she said. "Send me an owl."  
  
"I will, mom." Remus answered. He saw James and his parents appear, so he said, "There's James. I'll see you guys in a few months! 'Bye!"  
  
He ran over to where the Potter family stood. He stopped a few feet away so James could say his goodbyes first. James turned to Remus a moment later as his parents disappeared with a popping noise. "Hiya, Remus," James said grinning.  
  
"Hi, James." Remus replied.  
  
James' face turned grave for a moment. "I have something strange I want to talk to you about, but we should wait until everyone else gets here."  
  
Remus was puzzled, but he didn't press his friend. They got onto the train and picked a compartment to share. As they watched out the window for Sirius, Austin and Lily, they chatted about school and the massive amounts of homework they expected to get. It seemed like hours before everyone else arrived because Remus was so impatient to know what James was talking about. It was actually only about 15 minutes before the group was reunited.  
  
James waited until the hustle and bustle in the train had stopped and they had started their journey before he brought up his strange subject. "Hey, you guys," he said quietly. "I got a weird letter yesterday and I want to know what you think about it." He began to read it out loud.  
  
James read:  
  
"Dear James,  
  
I realize that I was wrong to abandon you and Sirius like I did. I was caught up in the fact that older students wanted to be my friend. As it turns out, they just wanted me to follow them around, admiring them and doing whatever they asked me to. I am very sorry that I left you and Sirius, my true friends. I understand that you probably don't want to speak to me again, but if you could find it in your heart to forgive me, and let me be your friend again, I would be grateful forever. Please meet me by the common room fire after dinner on our first day back.  
  
Begging your forgiveness,  
  
Peter Pettigrew"  
  
James folded the letter back up and put it in his pocket. Everyone stared at him in silence until he said, "So, what do you think?"  
  
"Why does he miss us now?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Because he's finally realized that Snape's crowd was using him and you are his real friends!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"Took him long enough," Sirius said. "But I guess we ought to give him another chance."  
  
"I thought you would agree, Sirius," James said. "What do you think, Remus and Austin?"  
  
"I barely knew him before he left," Remus began. "But he just seemed a little unsure of himself. I think he's come to his senses and we should welcome him back."  
  
"I wouldn't be quite that quick about it," Austin said. "Just from what I've heard. But you should give him another chance, if he's sincere."  
  
James nodded. "Good. That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure that everyone agreed. We'll all go meet him after dinner tonight and make sure he means it."  
  
Austin cleared his throat. "While we're having some serious discussion, I have some rather bad news."  
  
Everyone turned and stared at him. "What's wrong?" Lily asked.  
  
"Well, I just found out from my folks that my dad has gotten transferred to France. We're moving after this term."  
  
"What?" Remus exclaimed. "You're moving to France? You can't leave Hogwarts! Where will you learn magic?"  
  
James and Sirius' faces turned from surprise to snickers as Remus realized he had again displayed his ignorance of his new world. "There are other wizarding schools," James said.  
  
"Though Hogwarts is the best," Sirius added, "Austin can still learn magic in France."  
  
Austin nodded. "I was a bit worried about that, too, Remus, but I'm going to be attending Beauxbatons Academy."  
  
"Oh," Remus said, feeling slightly less stupid.  
  
"But you can't leave," Lily said. "We'll miss you!"  
  
Austin smiled. "I'll miss you guys, too. You were my first friends here."  
  
"We'll write to you all the time," James said.  
  
"And we'll still be able to go to the World Cup together," Sirius said. "It's in France, right?"  
  
Austin brightened up. "Yeah, I hadn't thought of that."  
  
"And besides," said Remus, "We still have half of the year, so we have a lot of time to spend together first."  
  
"A lot of time to pull memorable pranks, you mean," James said smiling.  
  
Once the topic turned to pranks, they spent most of the trip discussing ideas for future pranks, when they weren't stuffing their faces with the candy they bought.  
  
The train arrived at Hogwarts just before dinner was served. Remus looked around the Hall to see if Peter was there, but Remus didn't see him anywhere. He did see Arabella sitting further down the Gryffindor table and he remembered that he had a gift for her. She waved at Remus, who waved back. Arabella stood up, walked over to Remus and sat down beside him.  
  
"Did you like your present?" she asked with a smile.  
  
Remus grinned back. "Yeah, maybe now I can beat Sirius!" They laughed and Remus said, "I have a present for you, too, but it's still in my trunk. Can you meet me at the table in the corner of the common room at about 8:30 so I can give it to you?"  
  
"Sure," Arabella said. "Maybe we can try out your new chess skills while we're at it."  
  
"Sounds great," Remus said, and he meant it.  
  
A couple of older students who Arabella had been sitting by were beckoning to her, so she turned to Remus and said, "Well, I guess I have to go now. But I'll meet you later."  
  
Remus ate dinner with his friends feeling very happy. He was back with them, they were going to be reunited with another friend, and he was going to spend time with Arabella. As the food was being cleared from their plates, Professor Dumbledore stood up. "I'd like to welcome everyone back to Hogwarts," he began. "I'm sure we'll have a very pleasant second term. In case visions of sugar plums and Christmas gifts have clouded your memory, I will remind all students that the forest is out of bounds and that you are not to go near the Whomping Willow at any time or for any reason. That said, please enjoy the rest of your year at Hogwarts."  
  
Remus felt a twinge of guilt at the mention of the Whomping Willow, but he wasn't going to let anything ruin his first day back with his friends. Since dinner was done, they headed up to their common room, where they were to meet Peter. The boys promised to meet Lily in the library after they had talked to Peter. They were surprised to find Peter already sitting by the fire when they arrived. They all took a seat near him and waited in silence for someone to break the ice.  
  
Finally, Peter said, "Does this mean you forgive me?"  
  
James looked around at everyone, then nodded at Peter. "We want to give you another chance, if we are sure that you really mean it. Everyone makes mistakes, and those slimy Slytherins can convince anyone of anything. If you are ready to be a true friend again, we're ready."  
  
Peter looked nervously at the other boys before replying. They were all nodding or smiling reassuringly. Peter's solemn face broke into a smile, too. "Good! I'm ready to do whatever it takes to show you I'm sincere."  
  
Sirius stood and embraced Peter. "That's good to hear. I've missed you, old friend!"  
  
They asked Peter how his Christmas was, and felt bad that he was stuck at school without any friends. They told him about the presents they got, and the week they spent together. James told him in a hushed voice about the invisibility cloak, and promised to show him when they went up to bed. Peter couldn't wait, so everyone headed up to the dorm room.  
  
"Oh wait," James said. "Lily's waiting in the library. Remus, why don't you go tell her we'll be there in a minute?"  
  
Remus did not want to be alone with Lily, he was still worried that she wanted to confront him about his secret. 'Even if she doesn't know,' he thought, 'she'll want to talk about that night I had the dream.' But he couldn't say that to James and the rest of his friends, so he just nodded. He headed slowly back to the library. All too soon he arrived, and saw Lily sitting alone at a table, reading a book on ancient Egyptian wizards.  
  
Lily looked up and said in surprise, "Where's everyone else?"  
  
"Peter wanted to see the invisibility cloak right away, so they went to show it to him," was Remus' sullen reply.  
  
"Well they can take their time," Lily said with authority as she closed her book and set it on the table in front of her. "We need to talk."  
  
Remus was very nervous, but now that he couldn't get out of it, he had to face whatever it was Lily needed to talk to him about. "What about?" he said, trying to keep his voice unconcerned.  
  
"Well, I have been trying to get you alone since after the Halloween feast, because I wanted to tell you." her voice trailed off and she looked away. "I wanted to tell you that I was beginning to have a crush on you. Then you kept avoiding being alone with me, so I figured you didn't like me. But then that night at James', when you had your bad dream, I thought you were about to kiss me, until you threw me off of the bed."  
  
Remus stared at Lily in disbelief. She'd liked him since Halloween? All this time he'd thought she'd figured out his secret. As he stared, she leaned in closer. "I wouldn't have minded if you had," she said softly.  
  
Remus leaned towards her, wanting to feel her soft lips on his. As the moment of contact came closer, he closed his eyes and three images flashed through his mind. The first was Lily's face, looking at him sympathetically the night of his dream. Then he saw his awful werewolf face. The third image was Lily leaning towards him, then jumping back in horror as she saw his wolfish form. He abruptly opened his eyes and moved backwards.  
  
"Lily," he began, as she looked at him, shocked. "I can't do this. Not now. I like you, too, but." He happened to glance at the clock on the library's wall. It read 8:26. "Oh no," he said, jumping out of his seat. "I have to go, Arabella is waiting." Without looking back, he ran out of the library, leaving Lily sad and confused. 


	14. Late Night Adventure

Chapter 14: Late Night Adventure  
  
Remus hurried back to the Gryffindor tower and breathlessly gave the fat lady the password ("bubotuber pus"). Sure enough, Arabella was waiting for him at the table in the corner. "Just a second," he said as he passed. "Let me get it." He burst into his room and began rooting through his trunk. Only when he had found the package did he look up to see James and Austin sitting on one of the beds.  
  
"Where are Peter and Sirius?" he asked.  
  
"Around here somewhere, under the cloak," James said. "Did you leave Lily already?"  
  
"I had to meet Arabella," Remus muttered, turning red. He didn't want to think about what had happened with Lily. He quickly left the room and joined Arabella. "Here it is," he said, handing her the brightly wrapped package.  
  
She smiled as she began to unwrap it. "Oh, what a pretty mirror!" she exclaimed, holding it up. "But I can't see myself! There's just a small shadowy figure."  
  
"It's a foe glass," Remus explained. "It shows you how close your enemies are. I thought it might come in handy later when you go off to fight evil."  
  
"How thoughtful!" Arabella remarked. "It can also help me avoid some of the bullies here at school."  
  
"You like it then?" Remus asked eagerly.  
  
"Of course I do. It's great!" she smiled. "But you looked flustered when you ran past before. Is everything ok?"  
  
Remus debated whether he should reveal what had occurred between Lily and him. He was still deep in thought on the subject when a couple of third year girls entered, giggling about the little girl crying in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Remus cringed. "I bet it's Lily," he said involuntarily.  
  
Arabella smiled sympathetically and nodded. "I guess it has something to do with your friend Lily," she said. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
It was too complicated to go into without telling Arabella everything, so he shook his head. "Basically it was just a misunderstanding. Hopefully she'll accept my apology and it'll be alright."  
  
Nodding again, Arabella said, "I understand how those things go. But if you ever need someone to talk to, about anything, I'll be here."  
  
"Thanks," Remus said gratefully. He was very glad that she hadn't pressed him for details.  
  
"Do you want a game of chess or do you think you should go find Lily and talk to her?"  
  
Remus thought a moment. "I think she needs a little while to cool down. I'll talk to her in the morning. Right now I want to test out my new chess strategies!"  
  
Remus fared better against Arabella than he had against Sirius, but she still won. As they cleaned up the board and Remus got ready for bed, he tried to push the thoughts of Lily out of his mind. But her confused expression kept popping up in his dreams and waking him with a start. Finally, at 4 in the morning, he couldn't take it anymore and he got dressed and left the Gryffindor tower. He was walking aimlessly when he saw a figure silhouetted in a window across the hall.  
  
He was very surprised when the figure spoke. "Is that you, Remus?" Lily's voice came floating through the darkness.  
  
"What are you doing here, Lily?" Remus asked.  
  
"I couldn't sleep," she replied simply.  
  
Remus sighed deeply. "Neither could I."  
  
"Join me, then," Lily said.  
  
"So you're still talking to me?" Remus said, walking over to where she stood.  
  
"Of course," she said. "I realized our friendship is a lot more important than my hurt pride. I just wish you had stayed and talked to me, instead of running off without explanation."  
  
"I would have stayed if I hadn't had to meet Arabella, but I really couldn't explain then," Remus said quietly.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
Remus took a deep breath, as he prepared to reach the point of no return. "I can't tell you what it is right now, because it would take a lot of time and I want to be able to tell everyone at once."  
  
There was silence for a moment, then Lily said, "Well, when can you tell us?"  
  
"I'll explain everything tomorrow after dinner," Remus said.  
  
Lily opened her mouth to reply when an adult voice said in a leering voice, "What are you kids doing down here? It's way past your bed time."  
  
Lily and Remus stared in astonishment at the creepy man standing before them. The only light in the hallway was the lantern the man was holding, but even in the dark he looked ugly and unpleasant. The man was looking intently at Remus, which made it hard to think of an excuse quickly. Remus looked helplessly at Lily, only to find that she was looking just as helplessly at him. "We.we couldn't sleep, sir," Remus said in a small voice.  
  
"Oh, so you thought you'd just take a stroll around a big, dangerous castle by yourself. No, I forgot, you aren't by yourself, you brought your little girlfriend out with you," the man said, sneering.  
  
Remus lost it completely. "She's not my girlfriend!" he yelled. "Who are you anyway?"  
  
The man smiled nastily, showing his rotting teeth. "I'm Apollyan Pringle, the caretaker." He gave Remus a mocking bow. "At your service."  
  
Lily groaned. Pringle's smile grew larger. "'eard of me, 'ave you? And the punishments I likes to give?"  
  
Nodding, Lily didn't dare to answer. "I used to 'angs kids by their wrists in the dungeons." He began to laugh. "Did that to a boy last year in fact. Ooh, how that red 'ead screamed. It taught him not to sneak out at night. Unfortunately, Dumbledore put a stop to the effective punishments. All I can do to yous kids is to give you a few nights of detention."  
  
Remus noticed that Lily looked quite relieved, but detentions still sounded pretty bad to him. "And take 20 points from..eh, what 'ouse are you in?"  
  
Lily started to speak, but Remus interrupted. "Gryffindor, sir." Lily looked at him curiously, but the look on Remus' face made her keep her silence.  
  
"Well, I'll be 'aving a talk with McGonagall tomorrow morning, and escorting yous back to your tower tonight."  
  
The odd trio walked back to Gryffindor tower in silence. Once they reached the fat lady, Pringle said, "I'll be expecting to see you both in my office tomorrow immediately after dinner. 'ow many more days of detention yous have depends on 'ow hard yous work tomorrow. Understand?"  
  
Lily and Remus nodded silently. Pringle shouted at the fat lady to wake her up. She wasn't too happy about this, but luckily she was too sleepy to notice Lily (obviously a Ravenclaw) entering the room with Remus. They heard Pringle calling, "Goodnight!" gleefully as the door closed.  
  
"Why didn't you say I was in Ravenclaw?" Lily asked Remus as soon as the door had shut.  
  
"It's my fault we were both out there to get caught, I'll take the blame as much as I can," Remus replied, shrugging.  
  
"You didn't make me wander the halls at night," Lily said indignantly.  
  
Remus shook his head. "No, but if I had been considerate of your feelings earlier, you would have been able to sleep."  
  
"You don't know that for sure," Lily replied half-heartedly, letting Remus know she agreed with him.  
  
He didn't even bother to reply to this. Instead, his mind was working furiously, trying to figure out what to do with Lily until morning.  
  
"What?" She looked at him, confused.  
  
"Oh," he said. "Sorry. I was just thinking about what you should do until morning."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked. "I'll go back to my room and try to get a bit of sleep."  
  
"But what if Pringle is waiting nearby or the fat lady is more awake when you leave?" Remus countered.  
  
Lily's face fell. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that. But I can't stay here either! If I was caught here." her voice trailed off.  
  
"I know," Remus said, frustrated. "That's why I'm trying to figure out a plan." After a moment, he exclaimed, "Of course! I can't believe it took me that long to think of it!"  
  
"What did you think of?" Lily said, exasperated.  
  
"James' cloak!"  
  
"Of course!" Lily said, slapping herself in the forehead. "Why didn't we think of that in the first place? Do you think he'll mind me using it?"  
  
Remus hadn't thought of that. "I don't think so. As long as we're careful with it, we can just explain it to him tomorrow. After all, what other choice do we have?"  
  
Lily nodded. "Alright. You go get it, I'll see if I can hear Pringle outside the portrait."  
  
Remus nodded and rushed to the room where his four friends slept. He noiselessly opened James' trunk and quickly found the silvery cloak. His owl hooted a couple of times, recognizing his owner, but Remus tried his best to quiet him from across the room. His heart leapt into his throat when James started to speak, but he calmed down when he realized he was only muttering in his sleep. He took his time getting back to the common room because he wanted to make sure he wasn't making a sound. When he got back, Lily had her ear pressed to the inside of the door. His whispered call startled her, causing her to jump a good foot into the air.  
  
"You scared me!" she hissed at him.  
  
"Sorry. Can you hear anything out there?" Remus whispered back.  
  
"No, but I heard Aidan hoot a couple of times from your room and that scared me half to death as well," Lily replied shortly.  
  
"I can't help that he was happy to see me!" Remus said angrily.  
  
"I know," Lily muttered. "I'm sorry, but I'm nervous. Can I go now?"  
  
"Yeah. Get under the cloak and we'll get you back to your room," Remus said quietly.  
  
"We?" Lily looked at Remus in complete surprise. "You don't have to come."  
  
"Why not?" Remus asked. "I don't want you to get lost or in trouble alone, plus I can return the cloak once you are safely back."  
  
"But.I don't want us both to get in trouble again, if we get caught."  
  
"We won't get caught," Remus said, shrugging.  
  
Lily smiled for the first time in what seemed like quite awhile. "Alright. Let's go."  
  
She and Remus stood close together and covered themselves with the cloak. They made it to the Ravenclaw tower without an further incident besides the fat lady yawning loudly as they passed through her door. Lily said goodnight to Remus right outside her common room, then gave the password to swing her door open. (Remus was sworn to secrecy about the location of and password to the Ravenclaw tower.) Making sure the coast was clear, she left the safety of the cloak to enter her tower. She looked fondly at the open space in front of her where she knew Remus was standing as she closed the door. 


	15. Facing the Truth

Chapter 15: Facing the Truth  
  
The next morning, all of his roommates were surprised to see him up and dressed when they awoke. He told them what happened with the caretaker, but he didn't fill them in on the details of why he and Lily were in the hallway together. He was relieved when they didn't ask for any details. James, as Remus had expected, didn't mind that they had borrowed his cloak. They met Lily in the hall for breakfast and she looked just as tired as he did.  
  
The day seemed to go by very slowly to Remus because he was dreading detention after dinner. The only class he actually wished would end was Transfiguration. Pringle couldn't have told her which students he had caught last night; he hadn't asked their names. Nevertheless, Remus felt so guilty just seeing the head of his house. At the end of the class, McGonagall gave a general speech about how adhering to school rules was absolutely necessary and how she didn't want to hear of any more Gryffindor transgressions. Remus wanted to be anywhere but where he was. At long last, they were allowed out of class.  
  
After Potions, Lily and Remus walked together in silence to dinner, while Sirius, Austin, James and Peter walked ahead of them, talking and laughing. Dinner tasted like sawdust to the worried Remus, and he could tell by the way that Lily was picking at her food that she would agree. Then, dinner was over, and the two nervous students walked in the opposite direction from their friends. Remus heard James yell, "Good luck!" as they walked away, and Remus turned around and gave James a weak smile.  
  
At first they had a bit of trouble locating the caretaker's office. When they entered, Pringle was nowhere in sight. Remus let out an audible sigh of relief. "Maybe he won't show up," he said hopefully.  
  
Lily looked at him uneasily. "Maybe."  
  
Then, the door swung open and Apollyan Pringle stood hideously before them. "I was wonderin' if yous two kids would shows up," he cackled. "I never gots yous kids names last night, but it doesn't matter. Your house lost points and you're gonna work 'arder then you ever 'ave in your 'ole lives." He began laughing, which made Lily cringe.  
  
"Well?" the old caretaker said. "Aren't you goin to introduce yourselves?"  
  
"I'm Remus and this is Lily," Remus replied calmly.  
  
"Well Remus and Lily, your first task tonight is to clean out the owlery without magic. Don't look relieved, it won't be your only job, nor is it pleasant. The owls like to bring in dead mice and snakes." Seeing the disgusted look on Remus' face, Pringle laughed again. He handed them brooms and buckets and warned them not to try to leave the job half done because he would be waiting to check their work.  
  
As Pringle had promised, the work was not pleasant, but Remus was determined to finish the job tonight. He didn't ever want to have another detention in his life. He noticed that Lily was working as hard as he was, but she wasn't speaking.  
  
"Everything ok, Lily?" Remus asked, breaking the silence.  
  
Lily shrugged. "I guess. I just hate having to wait for you to explain everything."  
  
Sighing, Remus agreed. "I know, I want to get it off of my chest as well, but we just don't have time during the day for a long private conversation with just the six of us."  
  
"I know and I'm not blaming you, it's just hard. I've got a lot going through my mind right now and it won't get any better until I've heard your side of it."  
  
"I'm sorry," Remus said. "I don't want to cause you pain and stress."  
  
Lily smiled at him reassuringly. "You think I don't know that? I'll survive another day, but I don't know if I could survive another detention like this!" She held up the remains of a large rat.  
  
Remus laughed, and soon Lily joined in. The laughter dissolved all of the bad feelings and the disgusting task they were undertaking. All that was left was their friendship, and Remus wanted the moment to last forever because he didn't know if there would be any more moments like that once Lily knew the truth about him.  
  
It was just about midnight when they finished. Pringle looked disappointed when he saw what a good job they had done. There was nothing he could complain about. Grudgingly, he told them that if they worked that hard the next night, they would be done serving detentions. Remus was happy to be halfway done, but now he would have to start planning how he was going to tell his friends his secret. After saying goodnight to Lily in the hallway, he went to his room and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.  
  
The next two days went by fast- too fast for Remus. He and Lily had their last detention and all too soon it was dinner the next night. Remus knew he had to tell everyone after dinner was over and he was dreading it. Lily was in a tense mood as well, trying to wait patiently for Remus' news. Finally James said, "What's going on with you two? You look really anxious."  
  
Lily looked at Remus, deciding that he was going to be the one to answer. "Well, I have something I want to talk to you all about after dinner. Lily's been waiting since the day we got our detentions to hear it, but there hasn't been time for a discussion since."  
  
Sirius, James, Peter and Austin looked at each other with puzzled expressions. They had no idea what Remus wanted to talk to them about. James looked at Remus and said, "Where do you want to talk?"  
  
"Probably the library, as long as there aren't many people there. I don't want anyone to find out about this," Remus said, looking down at his untouched food.  
  
James smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. Whatever it is, it'll be between us."  
  
Suddenly, dinner was over and the group walked to the library. Remus felt a bit numb as he tried to rehearse his speech in his head. The library was deserted except for the librarian, who looked at the six students suspiciously, but said nothing to them as they huddled together in a corner.  
  
Remus cleared his throat and began. "First of all, I know that Peter wanted to prove to us how much he wants to be our friend again, and keeping this secret is the perfect way. I am showing you how much I trust you by including you while I tell my secret, I expect you to keep your mouth shut."  
  
Peter nodded solemnly as Sirius and James exchanged looks that plainly said, "What kind of secret is Remus keeping?"  
  
"Well," Remus said nervously. "You know how I've been going to visit my mom every month? And how I left the Halloween feast because I was sick?" His friends all nodded. "I wasn't really going home or in the hospital wing, I was going to the abandoned house in Hogsmeade."  
  
"Why?" Austin blurted out.  
  
Remus took a deep breath and answered Austin's question while looking down at the floor. "Because it was a full moon, and I'm a werewolf." Silence followed this shocking statement. Remus slowly looked up from the floor to his friends' faces. He was expecting them to look horrified, but they all looked a bit shocked, but concerned.  
  
"How did it happen?" Lily asked softly.  
  
"When I was four, my family went camping. I wandered off and ended up getting bitten by a werewolf. That's why we left the wizard world actually. It scared my mom to death, there's no cure and the best the doctors could do was delay the effects for 7 years."  
  
"What actually happens at the full moon?" Peter asked.  
  
"Well, I turn into a wolf and I howl and stuff. If I ever saw any person, I'd attack them. I have a wolf's mind and I can't control it. I can't even remember what happened while I was a wolf."  
  
There was silence for another minute, and James asked in a hurt voice, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"  
  
Remus hung his head again. "I thought you wouldn't want to be my friends anymore, once you knew I was a monster."  
  
They all began to talk at once (except for Peter, who hadn't really been Remus' friend before.) "You thought we'd stop being your friend because of THAT?" Sirius bellowed.  
  
"We're your real friends, Remus, we wouldn't do that to you!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"You're not a monster!" Austin added.  
  
"We'll stick by you no matter what," James said indignantly.  
  
Remus couldn't help but smile. "You mean it guys?" he said eagerly.  
  
"Of course we do," Lily said. Then she added, "Was that what you were dreaming about that night at James'?"  
  
"Yeah," Remus replied. "In my dream, I was attacking a bunch of people. That's my worst fear, is that I'll get out and attack someone." He shuddered.  
  
Lily put an arm around him. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you've made sure that won't happen." She hesitated for a moment, looking around at everyone else, then went ahead anyway. "Is this the reason you ran out on me the other night? Did you think I wouldn't like you because you're a werewolf?" After Remus nodded, she went on. "Well, this is what I think about that." She leaned over and kissed him, right in front of everyone. It was the briefest brushing of lips, but it made Remus very happy.  
  
Then he noticed the other boys looking at them strangely, waiting for an explanation. Except for James. He was smiling as broadly as Remus. "I knew you'd get her soon, Remus," he laughed.  
  
Remus explained, "The night we made up with Peter, I came to the library to tell Lily where you were and she told me that she liked me. I wanted to tell her I liked her, too, but I was scared of what she'd think of my secret. So I left in a hurry without any explanation. Neither of us could sleep that night and we bumped into each other in the hallway."  
  
Out of nowhere, Sirius suddenly asked. "How do you get to Hogsmeade every month?"  
  
"There's a secret passage under the Whomping Willow that leads to the Shrieking Shack. I just have to touch a knot on the tree and it stops moving so I can get through," Remus replied.  
  
Something dawned on James and he said, "At quidditch tryouts, that was you I saw in the woods, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," Remus said sheepishly. "I wanted to watch and I didn't think anyone would notice. I was so scared that you would figure everything out!"  
  
"I thought I was seeing things," James said. "But I'm glad I wasn't!" Everyone laughed and Remus felt much better having gotten his secret off of his chest.  
  
A/N: I realized long after writing this chapter that Lupin says in Prisoner of Azkaban that his friends figured out that he was a werewolf, instead of him telling them, like he does here. This is just artistic license on my part; I am assuming that after so many years, the details of it became blurry to Lupin. 


	16. Hagrid's New Pet

Chapter 16: Hagrid's New Pet  
  
After asking Remus a few more questions, the group left the library for bed. They hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. The next few days went a lot better than Remus could ever have imagined. His friends stuck by him and he felt a new sense of freedom, to have told his closest friends his huge secret. Soon it was the weekend, and Lily suggested that they go visit Hagrid. They had been to see him a few times before, but not since Christmas, and he hadn't met Peter yet. Everyone thought this sounded like a good idea, so they got bundled up in their thickest winter clothes and trudged through the snow to Hagrid's hut. Lily pounded on the door as the six first years stood shivering on the doorstep.  
  
Hagrid opened the door. When he saw who was there, he smiled broadly. "Well 'ello!" he said loudly. Then he saw how cold they were and yelled, "'urry up, ge' in 'ere! It's freezin' out there, you should have stayed in the castle." They hustled in, as ordered, and sat in front of Hagrid's roaring fire and began to peel off the layers of clothes they were wearing.  
  
Hagrid sat down, beaming at them. When he noticed Peter, he said, "Oy, 'o's this?"  
  
Remus smiled. "This is Peter Pettigrew," he said. "Peter, this is Hagrid...uh..." He looked at Hagrid.  
  
Hagrid had looked a bit puzzled at being introduced to Peter (they had told Hagrid about how he stopped talking to them), but he spoke up, extending his hand. "Rubeus Hagrid's the name. Keeper of the Grounds."  
  
Peter shook Hagrid's hand, but the large man's grip was too much for him. "Ow!" he yelled, pulling his hand away.  
  
Hagrid laughed. "Sorry, lad. I didn't mean tuh hurt yeh." To everyone, he said, "'ow were your 'olidays?"  
  
Sirius and James began to talk excitedly about their adventures at James' and what a cool broom Remus got. Hagrid's booming laugh stopped them after a few minutes. "Sounds like a blast. You were all there except Peter? What were you up to?" he inquired politely.  
  
"I was here at school," Peter admitted. "My parents decided to take a trip, and James and I weren't on the best of terms then, so I didn't get invited there." Peter smiled at James. "But I realized my mistakes and we've worked things out."  
  
"Tha's good tuh hear," Hagrid said. "I bought myself something nice over break."  
  
"What is it?" Lily asked excitedly.  
  
Hagrid smiled. "I hoped you'd ask." He walked over to a large cage that stood in the corner of his hut. "You'll love this!" he said, opening the door.  
  
Out of the cage crawled a very small, but odd-looking creature. It looked somewhat like a spider, but it had only five legs. Its hideous body was covered in reddish brown hair and its legs ended in clubfeet. It appeared to be surveying Hagrid's hand to find the best spot to start eating it.  
  
"It's a Hairy MacBoon," Hagrid said with pride. "Proper name is quintaped, or somethin'. They are very rare, livin' only on the Island of Drear off of the very north of Sco'land."  
  
"I've never heard of the Island of Drear," Remus said.  
  
"Of course you haven't, Remus. They've made it unplottable," Hagrid exclaimed.  
  
"What's that mean?" Austin asked, watching the quintaped's hairy legs move across Hagrid's large hand.  
  
"You can't put it on a map," Hagrid explained. "'ogwarts is unplottable as well. Can't have rival schools finding us, can we?"  
  
"Why is Drear unplottable?" Sirius asked nervously. "It isn't because the Hairy MacBoons live there, is it?"  
  
Hagrid looked puzzled. "I don't rightly know, Sirius. It could be."  
  
"What does it eat?" Lily asked as the creature prepared to make a feast out of Hagrid's pinky finger.  
  
"Well, out in nature, they prefer humans, but I'm gonna see if I can't train this little guy to eat chicken," Hagrid said, petting the quintaped affectionately. He yelped as the thing bit into his finger. "Ow! I can see little Martin is getting hungry. Try this," he said, setting Martin back in the cage with a plate of chicken.  
  
"You've named it?" James said in astonishment.  
  
"'ow can I not name a pet?" Hagrid replied.  
  
"That thing is your pet?" Peter exclaimed in horror.  
  
"O' course. What'd you think I had him for?"  
  
They looked nervously around at one another. Suddenly James said, "Well Hagrid, we'd love to stay, but we have some homework we really need to be starting."  
  
Hagrid looked crestfallen as the other five stood up and nodded in agreement. "Well, yur schoolwork has to come first," he said. "But come down and see how Martin has grown the next time you get a chance!"  
  
"Yeah right," Sirius muttered under his breath as they rushed out the door, pulling on their warm clothes.  
  
Remus was in the library reading up on quintapeds in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and growing quite worried when Lily joined him. He smiled when he saw her walk in, and that crazy feeling in his stomach started working overtime. She sat next to him and put one of her hands over his.  
  
"Hey," she said. "What are you reading?"  
  
"I was actually reading up on quintapeds to see what Hagrid's gotten himself into. It doesn't seem good," Remus said shaking his head.  
  
Lily nodded. "We'll have to try to talk to him, but I don't think it'll do much good." She looked at Remus cautiously. "I noticed at dinner today that the moon is getting close to being full."  
  
"Yeah, a few more days and then to the Shrieking Shack I go," Remus said, trying hard to smile.  
  
"I wish there was a way for us to be with you, so you don't have to go through that alone," Lily replied thoughtfully.  
  
Remus' temper flared up. He did not want his friends to be putting themselves in danger because they knew the truth. "There's no possible way. It would be too risky!" Remus said loudly.  
  
"I don't want us to be at risk!" Lily yelled back. "I'm just going to see if anyone else can come up with a foolproof plan for us to be with you. If no one thinks of one, we'll leave you alone like you want!"  
  
The librarian was glaring at them from across the room by that time, so Remus tried to calm the situation down. "I know," he said. "Don't get upset. I just don't want anything to happen to any of you." He looked deep into her emerald eyes and her anger melted away.  
  
"I know," she said. "And it is so sweet of you to be worried, but I assure you, we can all take care of ourselves." After she said this, the entrance of Snape's group of Slytherins interrupted them.  
  
"What have we here?" Snape snarled at the two. "Mudblood love?"  
  
Remus jumped out of his seat, preparing to punch Snape in his overly large nose, but he stopped when he saw Lily had beaten him to his target. She stomped on his foot, spit on his face, and ran away before Snape could react. Remus stifled a laugh. To Snape he said, "Guess being wizard born doesn't prevent you from being beat by a girl," and he quickly exited the library.  
  
He turned a corner, where he was ambushed by a wave of auburn hair. "You scared me, Lily!" he exclaimed.  
  
She giggled. "Did you see the look on his face when I spit on him? He couldn't believe I'd fight back!"  
  
"I was surprised, too," Remus said, looking at her proudly.  
  
"You'll soon find I'm full of surprises," Lily said, still laughing. "Let's get away quickly before he sends Crabbe and Goyle after us. They'd just have to sit on us and we'd be goners."  
  
Remus joined in her laughter and they ran down the hallway to find safety, and to share their encounter with the rest of their friends. 


	17. Into the Kitchens

Chapter Seventeen: Into the Kitchens  
  
They found them wandering around on the first floor, trying to find a way into the kitchens. "I have a killer idea for a really big prank," James explained. "But we need to get into the kitchens first." They asked several people who were in the paintings if they knew the way, but they all refused to tell any students the kitchens' whereabouts. After another hour of searching, the group collapsed on the floor in a corner of the hallway, across from a painting of a bowl of fruit. They were too tired to even badger James into revealing his plans. As they sat in silence, they saw a small form in a shapeless piece of cloth dart from their right over to the painting. The creature looked all around, and thinking it saw no one, began to tickle a painted pear that sat in the bowl of fruit.  
  
The painting swung open, revealing vast kitchens, as well as a very small and very angry house elf standing right inside. "What is you doing, coming in through the hall? That's what we has secret passages for!"  
  
The house elf (for that is what the creature was) began to energetically explain the circumstances, but the door shut behind the two forms. Remus and his friends sat in a shocked silence. This was the entrance they'd been searching for, and they had found it by pure chance.  
  
James was the first to act. "Let's check it out!" he cried.  
  
"Do you think we should just now?" Peter spoke up. "What if they don't want us to go in there and they report us?"  
  
"I'm not afraid of detention," James replied curtly.  
  
"No, that's not what I mean," Peter said hurriedly. "If we get caught there once, they might be keeping a better eye on us afterwards, or alerting the elves to watch for us. Why don't we wear the cloak?"  
  
James looked thoughtful. "You're right, we can't just burst in the first time, but we can't always wear the cloak because the plan requires us to talk to the house elves. How about we get the cloak, then us guys will get under it and follow Lily in. We'll see how they react to her, then we can all come back later being visible."  
  
Everyone agreed that this was the best course of action and Lily seemed quite proud that she was chosen as the scout. As they walked back to their tower to get the cloak, Lily asked James why he picked her to go in and talk to the house elves.  
  
"Simple," James said. "You're prepared to deal with anything," (here Lily smiled as James paused) "...and you won't be involved in the actual prank, so it won't matter much if you get caught." Lily's smile vanished instantly.  
  
"Why won't I be part of the prank, James?" she asked, obviously very hurt.  
  
James looked a bit embarrassed. "I just don't think you should be involved. I don't want you to get in trouble on account of us."  
  
Lily stamped her foot. "James Potter, I can make my own decisions on what is worth getting in trouble for, thank you very much!" Her face was very angry, but her eyes were filling with tears that threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. "But I don't want to be part of your testosterone filled macho plans anyway!" She whirled around and ran down the halls, while her friends stood there, shocked.  
  
Remus was the first to run after her. "Lily!" he called. "Wait up!" Her only response was to look over her shoulder to see who was following. Seeing only Remus, she stopped and waited, arms crossed across her chest.  
  
"What do you want?" she said. "Do you think I'm gonna come back and help you guys just so you can leave me out of the fun stuff?"  
  
Remus shook his head. "No, I don't expect you to do that."  
  
Lily's face brightened a bit. "Then you're going to tell James to let me in on your prank?"  
  
Remus shook his head again. "You know how stubborn James is. Plus, I sort of agree with him."  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"I don't want you to get in trouble again," Remus replied calmly. "I think it would be better for you if you stayed out of the..." He trailed off, trying to think of the right word.  
  
"The guy stuff," Lily finished for him. "It's ok, I understand you don't want a girl around while you boys all show off for each other. I thought you saw me as more than just another girl, but I was wrong." She didn't race off this time, just turned and walked slowly away, more disappointed than mad. Remus didn't know how to dispel her disappointment, so he didn't follow her. He turned just as slowly and returned to where James, Peter, Sirius and Austin still stood.  
  
Austin spoke up after a minute of uncomfortable silence. "Well?" he said, looking at Remus.  
  
"She's really mad at us," Remus said simply. "Or," he corrected, "she's really mad at James and me."  
  
"What did you say to her?" James demanded.  
  
"I said that I agreed with you but I didn't expect her to help us scout out the kitchens and then sit out the prank," Remus said slowly.  
  
"You agree with me?" James looked surprised. "Do you all agree with me?" Sirius, Peter and Austin all nodded. James gave a small half grin. "Well, that will make it easier."  
  
"Let's just not mention it to her again," Remus suggested. "We can do our thing and she can do hers, but we can't just leave her all of the time."  
  
The others agreed to this. They didn't want to lose Lily as a friend. So they appointed Austin the scout for the kitchen mission (he looked the most innocent of the bunch), they retrieved James' cloak and they entered the kitchens. To their surprise, the house elves were very excited to see Austin and they gave him more food than he could carry. Once they got back to their room, James declared that their prank would work very well.  
  
The next morning at breakfast, Lily came and sat with the group as usual. She apparently had also decided it was best to not discuss the subject, because she didn't mention it, nor did she act coldly towards her friends. Remus was proud of Lily for being so strong and controlled when he knew how upset she had been. He wanted to talk to her in private to see what was going on between them, but it was hard to find the time. 


	18. A Werewolf Frightened

Chapter Eighteen: A Werewolf Frightened  
  
Before he got the chance, it was the night of the full moon and he had to make the lonesome trek out to the Whomping Willow. Before he left, his friends said they'd cover for him while he was gone. It felt really good to not have to lie to his friends anymore. Lily's fierce hug goodbye haunted Remus' memory as he walked to the shack and waited for the change.  
  
Remus awoke the next morning curled in a ball under the rickety bed. As usual, he had no recollection of the night, or how he had come to be under the bed. He wanted to leave the shack and rejoin his friends, but he knew how badly that might turn out. He sighed and resigned himself another slow and boring day within the confines of the shack.  
  
In the middle of the afternoon, voices woke Remus from a nap. 'What is that?' he thought as he sat up sleepily. Slowly, he realized that there were people talking right outside his door.  
  
"Let's go in," a boy's voice said.  
  
Another boy answered, "Maybe we should wait for everyone else."  
  
"Are you scared?" the first boy sneered.  
  
"No," the second boy said defiantly. "I'll even go first."  
  
As the doorknob began to turn, Remus began to take action. He knew the kids couldn't get in, but he wanted to scare them away for good. He began yelling and throwing chairs, scraping furniture across the floor, anything that made a lot of noise. The boys left screaming, and Remus collapsed on the floor in laughter.  
  
Although he did find it hilarious that two tough guys were scared away by him moving furniture around, he quickly realized that the situation wasn't all that funny. No one had thought that any of the villagers would come near the 'haunted house.' Remus panicked for a moment, wondering what would happen if any more really bright kids tried to get into the house during a full moon. Then he calmed down, realizing that the door was secured and if they heard his wolf noises from outside, they really would be scared away.  
  
But he began to see the wisdom in Lily's suggestion that they find a way for his friends to be present while he transformed. Having someone there who knew what was going on could really help if a situation came up, like kids breaking in. Remus spent the rest of the day and much of the night trying to think of a way for his friends to spend the full moon with him or near him at least. He hadn't come up with anything when he awoke the next morning and headed back to the castle, but he decided to bring it up at breakfast. 'If all six of us are thinking about it, someone is bound to come up with a good idea,' he reasoned.  
  
By the time Remus got to his room, Sirius, James, Austin and Peter were already somewhat awake and moving about. "How'd it go?" James asked.  
  
"Fine," Remus said. "I only have a few scratches. But it was really weird, there were two kids outside of the shack yesterday, talking about breaking in. I scared them away as they were about to, but I'm worried about it happening again."  
  
"What are you going to do?" Peter asked, eyes wide.  
  
"Well, I wanted to ask you guys for some ideas. Lily wanted to think of a way for you all to be there at the full moon without getting in my way, or being seen, and I think that would be really helpful in case something bad happens," Remus explained.  
  
"We'll try and think of something, Remus," Sirius said smiling. Everyone else nodded his agreement. "It's an interesting problem, but with the six of us working on it, we'll be spending the full moons together in no time!"  
  
At breakfast, Remus told Lily what had happened and how he was beginning to see that maybe he did need his friends around when he became a werewolf. She was happy that Remus saw her point and she asked if anyone had had any ideas yet.  
  
"How about we come to the shack with you, then hide under the cloak when you're a werewolf?" Austin suggested.  
  
Remus shook his head sadly and everyone's hopeful faces fell. "From the mess I leave behind, I can tell that I run all over, trying to destroy things. I'd accidentally bump into you and then I'd probably attack."  
  
"What if we just waited outside while you were dangerous?" James asked.  
  
"The door doesn't open," Remus explained. "Nobody can get in, and nobody can get out."  
  
"Well, we could just go back out through the Whomping Willow, couldn't we?" James countered.  
  
Remus stopped to consider this, but then shook his head again. "What if you were seen? Dumbledore would prevent you from ever coming with me again."  
  
"We'll just have to keep thinking," Lily said brightly. "It will come to us. Oh, and Remus, you missed a really great lecture in Defense Against the Dark Arts yesterday."  
  
"What happened?" Remus asked eagerly.  
  
"Well," Lily began excitedly, "Professor Carter taught us about Grindylows, which live in lakes and have really strong hands. Then he told us about the time that he was called in to take care of a group of them that were living in Scotland. It was so exciting!"  
  
As Lily paused for breath, James cut in. "And then he took us into another room where he had a tank with some grindylows in it, and he told us we could beat them by breaking their fingers. You won't believe what happened next!"  
  
Lily, who had been giving James dirty looks, seized her opportunity and finished the story. Before Remus could begin to answer James, she said, "He asked who wanted to volunteer to try and fight the grindylows! At first only me, James and Sirius wanted to try, but once we did it and got 10 points for our houses, half the class wanted to try it. It was the best lesson I've ever had!"  
  
Remus was disappointed that he had missed the lesson, but he was excited to hear all about it on the way to their first class of the day. He heard detailed descriptions of how Lily, James and Sirius had defeated their grindylows and an embarrassed Peter told him how Professor Carter had had to step in and take care of Peter's grindylow for him. Austin, it turned out, hadn't gotten a chance to try before the lesson was over.  
  
Once they were in Potions, preparing for the lesson, Peter said, "Oh, Remus, I almost forgot. Professor Carter said to tell you to come and see him about making that lesson up, since you were gone."  
  
Remus nodded. "I'll go right after lunch. We have some time before Charms. Hey, Austin, do you want to come with me and see if he'll let you have a go with the grindylow?"  
  
Austin smiled. "Sure, Remus. Thanks."  
  
After they were done eating, Remus and Austin hurried off to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Professor Carter looked up from his paperwork as they walked in. "Hello, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Harris. I assume, Mr. Lupin, you are here to make up the lesson you missed, but before we start, is there something you wanted to see me about, Mr. Harris?"  
  
"Well, sir," Austin said. "I didn't get a chance to fight the grindylow in class, so I was hoping I could get another chance."  
  
"Certainly, Mr. Harris," Carter replied, smiling. "If you are willing to wait until Mr. Lupin is ready to tackle it as well."  
  
"No problem," said Austin, smiling broadly. He sat down at a table. "I have some History of Magic I need to catch up on." He pulled out some papers and began studying.  
  
"Now, Mr. Lupin," Professor Carter said. "The grindylow is a water demon. It has an incredible grip, but its fingers are quite brittle. They are hostile to humans, though the merpeople have had some success in domesticating them." He then went on to explain in detail how to go about defeating the demon, and related the same story that Lily had mentioned. "Well, that about wraps it up," he finished. "Now you get to see one, and fight it, if you'd like."  
  
Remus nodded and followed Professor Carter to another room where two grindylows were trying to swim around in a tank of water that was only two feet deep. They were small and pale green with horns, fangs and really long fingers. When they saw the wizards enter the room, they began to make strange underwater growling noises. Professor Carter asked Austin to go first.  
  
Before Austin climbed in the tank, Professor Carter pointed his wand at Austin and said, "Hydrus Repellarus!" To Remus, he said, "That will keep him from getting wet. The room stays a lot neater that way." He smiled as they watched Austin begin. The grindylows were separated in the tank by a wall, but the second demon was trying just as hard to get to Austin through the barrier. Austin gathered himself and stepped into the shallow water. Immediately, his opponent grabbed his ankle and tried to pull Austin under.  
  
Austin struggled to release the grindylow's grip, trying to break its fingers. But this grindylow wasn't giving up that easily. Austin was off balance, about to be pulled under water when he pointed his wand at the creature and yelled, "Relashio!" The grindylow loosened its grip in surprise as jets of boiling water hit its skin. Staring moodily at Austin, it swam off to a corner and crouched there, nursing its wounds.  
  
"Well done, Austin!" Professor Carter said, helping Austin out of the tank.  
  
"Thanks, sir," Austin whispered, trying to catch his breath. He sat down and smiled at Remus. "Look," he remarked, "my robes aren't even wet."  
  
Remus had to laugh at this, though it was with a touch of nervousness. He wanted so badly to be good at defeating scary monsters, but he wasn't sure he would be. "Ready, Mr. Lupin?" Professor Carter asked with a smile. Remus nodded. "Hydrus Repellarus!"  
  
"Now climb in on the other side, Mr. Lupin and do just as I told you. Be ready for the grindylow to grab you!" the professor warned.  
  
Remus stepped over the wall of the tank and into the icy water. The moment his foot touched the bottom, his ankle was seized by a powerful grip. He squirmed, but the strong fingers only closed tighter around his ankle, just as he knew they would. Immediately, he raised his wand, pointed it at the ugly creature and yelled, "Relashio!," with no hesitation. Instead of instantly driving the creature away, the curse merely made the grindylow angrier. It tugged harder on Remus' foot and threatened to topple him over. Without panicking, Remus yelled the curse at the creature again, and this time it hit the grindylow squarely between the eyes. The demon recoiled in pain and with a hiss at Remus, slunk over to its corner.  
  
Remus breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the tank. Professor Carter's face was transformed by his expansive smile. "Well done, Mr. Lupin, well done. Not many first years could keep their wits about them when their spell fails to subdue the creature they're fighting. I am quite impressed."  
  
"Thank you, sir," Remus muttered, his face turning red.  
  
"I will award 5 points to Gryffindor for Mr. Harris' success, and 10 points for Mr. Lupin's," Professor Carter went on. "You may go to your next class now. I think you can make it on time if you hurry." He smiled as the two boys picked up their belongings and dashed out of the room.  
  
"How'd you like that?" Austin called gleefully as they rushed through the halls.  
  
Remus laughed. "I loved it. My adrenaline kicked in and I wasn't worried anymore. It was great!"  
  
Soon they reached Charms class (on time, too!) and they joined James, Sirius and Peter as they learned the Accidentay Repairum spell that would put together anything broken accidentally. The noise made from falling vases could be heard across the school. In truth, it was more fun to break the vases than to repair them, but by the end of the class they were starting to get the hang of the spell.  
  
The next week went by in a blur as the boys prepared for their biggest prank yet. At dinner one night, Dumbledore gave a quick announcement some new thing that was banned from Hogwarts' halls, but they didn't hear what it was, they were too busy squirming in their seats. Finally, the headmaster sat down and the students turned their attention to their plates, which would soon be brimming with delicious food. Or so they thought.  
  
Screams erupted through the Great Hall as rotting fish and some other unidentifiable foods that smelled just as bad appeared on the shiny silver plates. Flies crawled over the nauseating mess of so-called food. Dumbledore stood up to calm down the students when a large cake covered in mold appeared on the teacher's table. In gray frosting, it said "Happy Death Day, Sir Nicholas!"  
  
"Calm down, everyone!" Dumbledore's loud, clear voice quieted the room. "It's just some rotting food, not a monster for goodness sakes." He waved his wand and the food disappeared, except for the cake. "Sir Nicholas!"  
  
The Gryffindor house ghost appeared a moment later. "Yes, Headmaster?" he inquired politely.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" Dumbledore asked, pointing at the large cake. "It was served with some very rotted food, and I know for a fact that your Death Day was on Halloween."  
  
Nearly Headless Nick (as he was known by the students) looked astounded. "I assure you, Headmaster, I know nothing about this!"  
  
Dumbledore turned to the students. "Whoever the marauders are that pulled this off, I want you to turn yourselves in tonight, or risk a tougher punishment when I learn your identities from the kitchen staff tomorrow." He sat down and as he did, real food appeared on all of the tables and the students were treated to the delicious smells of turkey and mashed potatoes.  
  
During this whole scene, Remus, Peter, Austin, James and Sirius were trying very hard to keep their giggles down to a minimum, since they didn't want to get caught. Their plan had worked perfectly. It hadn't taken much to convince the house elves that they should serve something special for Sir Nicholas' Death Day, before the main course. Once the rest of the school had began talking excitedly about who had pulled off the prank and eating their real dinner, they let out the loud laughter they had been holding in. Lily was staring at them.  
  
"This is what you went to the kitchens for?" she exclaimed.  
  
"Shh!" James managed to reply through his laughter. "I don't want to get caught by Dumbledore!"  
  
"He's going to find out anyway," Sirius answered. "He's gonna ask the house elves unless we confess tonight."  
  
James shrugged. "We won't get caught, we'll confess."  
  
"What?" Peter cried.  
  
"Dumbledore actually thought what we pulled on Binns was funny, so I think he'll be ok with this one, especially if we come forward and admit it," James reasoned. "Plus, did you hear what he called us? The Marauders is a great nickname for our group. We owe him for that one."  
  
Everyone agreed about this, but Lily just kind of smiled sadly and said, "It's a great name for your group. I'm sure you'll live up to it."  
  
"Awww, Lily," James replied. "You know you're best friends with all of us, even though we don't want you in trouble for our pranks."  
  
She nodded. "I know. I don't agree with you excluding me, but it's not worth ruining our friendship over. Besides, I was getting lonely for some girly company every once in awhile." The whole group laughed and ate their exquisite dinner. They decided that after dinner they would go tell Dumbledore the whole story.  
  
Remus and James knew where the Headmaster's office was (they had each been there before), but when they reached the statue, it dawned on them that they didn't know the password. They looked at each other blankly while Sirius, Peter and Austin looked around nervously.  
  
"What's wrong?" Austin asked hesitantly.  
  
"I don't know how to get in," James admitted.  
  
Austin looked at Remus, who shook his head. "Me neither. Dumbledore was with us when we went in before."  
  
"So are we just going to wait until he decides to leave?" Sirius quipped.  
  
"No," James replied quickly. "Of course not. The Marauders will find a way." He stood there thinking for a moment, when a voice interrupted.  
  
"Excuse me, dears, but I couldn't help overhearing that you needed some help."  
  
Remus looked around, startled. "Who said that?" he asked.  
  
A gentle laugh issued from a portrait of a witch that hung across the hall. "Sorry to startle you. It was me." The Marauders turned to look. "I can go into his office and let him know you wish to see him," the witch continued.  
  
"Can you go through walls, like a ghost?" Peter asked, puzzled.  
  
"Not exactly. But I can get to the other paintings in the castle, and there's a nice one in Dumbledore's office. I'll be right back." With that, she walked off the side of the painting and was gone. A minute later, Dumbledore was standing in the hallway.  
  
"You are here to see me?" he inquired. "Please come into my office." 


	19. Confession and Confrontation

Chapter Nineteen: Confession and Confrontation  
  
The Marauders followed Dumbledore silently to his office. Even James looked a bit uneasy. Inside his office, there were enough chairs for all of them on the near side of a large desk. The bird that Remus had seen on his first visit looked quite a bit older, and was covered in beautiful feathers. Dumbledore sat behind his desk and waited for someone to begin explaining why they were all there. The boys were all waiting for James to begin, and once he realized that he had been appointed spokesperson, he began.  
  
"Well, sir, I bet you're wondering why we're here," James said with a smile.  
  
Dumbledore didn't smile back. "Yes, Mr. Potter, the thought did cross my mind."  
  
James stifled a laugh and continued. "We just wanted to confess to you that we're the Marauders." Seeing Dumbledore's blank stare, he added, "The ones who talked the house elves into serving that tasty treat for dinner tonight."  
  
Dumbledore's eyes smiled back, but his face remained stern. "That was a serious thing you did, Mr. Potter, and all of you," he reprimanded, looking at the entire group. "Sneaking into the kitchens and tampering with the Hogwarts menu is not an offense that I can overlook, like the chalk incident."  
  
James nodded solemnly. "I know, sir."  
  
"I assume you all took part in this prank?" Dumbledore asked, then went on. "Mr. Lupin, please inform me as to how you pulled this off."  
  
Remus was a bit scared, but once he had started, he explained the whole plan excitedly. He was quite out of breath when the headmaster raised his hand to stop him. "Thank you, Mr. Lupin, I understand now." He paused for a moment, then added, "Since no one was harmed by your actions, I will assign you each a detention and take 10 points from Gryffindor. But I must warn you, next time I will not be so lenient."  
  
The boys nodded silently, but as they prepared to leave, Dumbledore's stern face relaxed into a smile. "So you're calling yourselves the Marauders now?" he commented.  
  
"Yes, sir," James grinned. "You really gave us the name, you know." Dumbledore nodded and James took a deep breath and asked quickly, "Will you not tell the school who the Marauders are? I'd like them to remain a mysterious group."  
  
To everyone's surprise, the headmaster laughed aloud. "I expected that you boys wanted the glory of being known for this, so I wasn't going to tell school. How odd!" Just as the Marauders joined in the mirth, the headmaster became serious once more. "I would like to see you all stay out of trouble. You can do quite well here, you know. I don't want to see you in my office for punishment again before you graduate. Please meet Mr. Pringle in the front entrance tomorrow after dinner for your detentions. You may return to your tower now."  
  
Remus and his friends had stifled their laughter as best they could once the headmaster had turned serious, but as they left his office, they almost collapsed in hysterics. "He doesn't want to see us for punishments again before we graduate?" James said in disbelief after he had caught his breath. "We're the Marauders and we've still got plenty of tricks up our sleeves!"  
  
Sirius chimed in, "Imagine if he caught us at work making our map of secret passages!" James and Remus joined Sirius in another round of laughter, but Peter and Austin stared at them blankly.  
  
"What map?" Austin asked.  
  
"Oh," James said. "We are gonna search all over Hogwarts to find all of the secret passages and make a map of them that only we can use. We figured we'd be good at finding them since we found that one at my house."  
  
Austin looked a bit hurt. "Why didn't you tell me before?"  
  
James, Sirius and Remus looked at each other uncomfortably. Remus finally spoke up. "I guess we just wanted to surprise you and Lily when we had it finished. Now it sounds pretty stupid, but at the time it sounded like a good idea."  
  
Austin nodded sullenly. "I see, you just thought you could keep me and Lily out just because you felt like it. I know how she feels now." He turned quickly and walked in the opposite direction.  
  
James sighed. "It was a pretty stupid idea, keeping it from Austin. Why didn't we think so then?"  
  
Remus and Sirius shrugged sadly. Peter cheerfully tried to change the subject by bringing up the Potions test they were taking soon, but that didn't really cheer anybody up. They walked slowly and silently towards their tower when they heard a large group heading towards them. A group of Slytherins turned the corner and stopped when they saw the Marauders.  
  
Severus Snape was in the front of the group and he laughed when he saw who was standing in front of him. "Look who it is, a half blood and some pure bloods who have sunk to his level."  
  
Sirius stepped forward and pushed Snape down with all of his might. The rest of the Slytherins moved out of the way and Snape fell loudly onto the hard marble floor.  
  
"Oops!" Sirius giggled. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I thought with all that grease in your hair you'd slide right across the floor."  
  
James snickered loudly, Remus grinned and Peter laughed nervously, watching closely for Snape's reaction. Snape stood up and glared fiercely at Sirius, but addressed Peter.  
  
"I don't know why you're hanging with this riffraff, Pettigrew, you could have been great had you stayed with us."  
  
'_If only you knew how great I'll be_,' Peter thought to himself. Aloud, he replied, "Why would I want to hang around a brainless git like you only to be your slave?" He looked surprised at his own daring, but stood his ground. Snape looked at Crabbe and Goyle and nodded and they began to advance towards Peter's small form.  
  
Peter raised his fists and stood bravely until Goyle raised his fist, which was almost as big as Peter's face. Then Peter cowered and backed away. Snape snickered. "What's the matter Pettigrew? You're not scared, are you?"  
  
Goyle's fist was drawing back to hit Peter as hard as it could when an adult voice said, "Something wrong here, boys?" It was Professor Carter. He smiled at the Slytherins as Goyle reluctantly pulled his fist away from Peter.  
  
"No, sir," James said smiling. "Everything is fine. We were just on our way back to our tower."  
  
"Alright, Mr. Potter. Goodnight, boys. Oh, is that Miss Bellatrix with you, Mr. Lestrange? I apologize. Goodnight, boys and girls." With a wink at James, Professor Carter began to walk away, and the Marauders headed for their tower.  
  
"Don't think this is the end of this," Snape hissed at their backs.  
  
The Gryffindors laughed loudly and continued on their way. In their common room, they passed Austin playing exploding snap with a couple of second year boys. They said goodnight to him, but he just nodded coldly. 


	20. Valentine's Day

Chapter Twenty: Valentine's Day  
  
A/N: Parts of this chapter get a little corny, and you will roll your eyes, especially if you remember that the characters are only 11. I may write it out later, but I hate to scrap it all...Please just keep in mind that I learned my lesson from it, and it gets better after this! Thanks!  
  
The next day, the Marauders met the caretaker at the entrance to serve their detentions. Austin didn't look at any of his friends; he just stared at his feet, waiting in stony silence. Pringle met them soon after they arrived and he found a different task for each of them to complete separately. Sirius was sent to polish the trophies and awards, Peter had to scrub the floor of the Potions dungeon (which unfortunately was covered in dragon dung from that day's lesson), Remus was sent to help Professor Carter catch some creatures for tomorrow's lesson, James had to clean the owlery and Austin got to serve his detention with Hagrid.  
  
Austin was relieved when Pringle assigned him to work with Hagrid, he figured he'd have it pretty easy and he didn't have to be around his back stabbing 'friends'. Unfortunately, Hagrid wanted Austin to help him to tame his quintaped, which proved to be dangerous to Austin's fingers. He worked carefully and quietly until Hagrid interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"You feelin' ok, Austin?" Hagrid looked concerned. "You've bin awfully quiet."  
  
Austin continued his work without looking up. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"I tried to get Pringle to let you all come 'elp me," Hagrid said. "It's too bad he split you all up."  
  
Austin didn't reply, he only shrugged and jerked his hand away from the quintaped's fangs quickly.  
  
"Ah," Hagrid said softly. "Somethin 'appened with your friends, did it?"  
  
Nodding, Austin gave up all pretenses and looked at Hagrid with tears in his eyes. "They've been making plans without me, and not even realizing that they're leaving me out."  
  
Hagrid put a large hand on Austin shoulders and smiled sympathetically. "I know 'ow you feel. I felt left out at school sometimes, too. I thought kids avoided me because of my size, but I was imagining most of it. I was the only one leaving myself out."  
  
Austin sputtered angrily, "But I don't _think_ they've been leaving me out, I KNOW they've left me out!"  
  
"I'm sure it was an accident, Austin, if they're really yer friends. Give 'em another chance," Hagrid replied calmly. "Keep your chin up, you have to keep your wits about you if you want to handle Martin."  
  
Austin nodded fiercely and turned his attention back to the creature he was tending.  
  
After the group completed their detentions, they met wearily in their common room. James and Austin looked at each other and began to speak at the same time. They both stopped and James said, "Go ahead."  
  
Austin took a deep breath. "I had a talk with Hagrid about how I thought you were treating me, by leaving me out. It made me feel like you guys didn't want to be my friends. I realize now that it was an accident, and I don't want to spend my last few months here mad at my best friends." Austin smiled. "But I warn you, if it happens again, I'll leave you for Snape."  
  
Everyone laughed, thankful to be friends again. Austin spoke up again. "What were you going to say, James?"  
  
"That if you didn't accept our apology our next great prank would be played on you," James said smiling so broadly everyone knew at once that he was joking.  
  
"In that case," Austin gleefully replied, "I'm very glad we made up. I don't know what horrible things your mind is capable of coming up with." For the next few minutes, they stayed up, talking and joking, but when Peter yawned loudly, they decided it was time for bed.  
  
The next couple of weeks went by quickly, but pleasantly. Austin was not holding a grudge, and for the most part, neither was Lily. She spent less time with the group, creating friendships with some Ravenclaw girls, but she still loved to hang out with the boys. Remus was really busy with schoolwork, but whenever he had some free time, he had a lot on his mind. He still wondered what was going on between him and Lily (there hadn't been any time to talk to her), how to allow his friends to be with him when he transformed, how Hagrid and Martin were doing and how Arabella was doing.  
  
One morning in the beginning of February, James and Remus were brushing their teeth before breakfast when James asked, "Whatever happened with you and Lily?"  
  
Remus shook his head. "I don't know. We've been so busy since I told you guys and I haven't gotten a chance to talk to her yet."  
  
"Aw, mate, you can't just leave it at that kiss!" James cried, spitting toothpaste everywhere.  
  
Blushing, Remus asked, "What should I do then?"  
  
James thought a moment while he wiped toothpaste off of his robe, then answered, "Well, Valentine's Day is next week. You could do something really special for her then, and ask her."  
  
"That's a great idea! Will you help me think of something?" Remus asked, excited.  
  
"Sure," James replied. "But we had better get to breakfast before we're late!" He quickly waved his wand and the rest of the toothpaste was removed from the walls and floor and they joined the rest of the Marauders in the common room.  
  
Over the next week, James and Remus often had their heads together, discussing plans for Lily's Valentine's surprise. They even stayed after Defense Against the Dark Arts to get Professor Carter to do a favor for them. The 13th of February, the school was getting caught up in hopeful anticipation, especially the older students. They were positively buzzing about who would send who a valentine. Most of the first and second years weren't nearly as excited (they were mostly still convinced the opposite sex had cooties), so some of Remus' friends wondered why he seemed so anxious.  
  
At dinner that night, Lily ate with the Marauders. She was cheerfully discussing the possibility that Hufflepuff's prefect might be receiving a wonderful Valentine from Ravenclaw's prefect, when a note was delivered to her. She opened it curiously, then turned to her friends worriedly.  
  
"It's from Professor Carter," she whispered. "He wants to meet with me tomorrow after dinner to discuss the grindylow test we took last week." She looked up from the parchment and continued. "I thought I had done well on it," she said. "But this doesn't sound good."  
  
Sirius spoke up, "You don't know it's bad, Lil. You knew that stuff inside out. I bet he just wants you to help him write a harder test."  
  
Lily looked at him skeptically and said, "Yeah, and Snape is going to be a professor at Hogwarts."  
  
In the middle of taking a drink when Lily said this, Sirius almost snorted water out of his nose. "I think you've got a million times better chance of acing that test than that idiot has of ever becoming a professor," he said, once he had stopped laughing hysterically.  
  
This forced Lily to smile and admit that Sirius was probably right. But she remained worried, so Remus changed the subject in an effort to take her mind off of it. After dinner, Lily excused herself to go sit by the Ravenclaw fire with some of her new friends. Remus hoped she wasn't running off to sulk, but he quickly forgot about Lily's troubles as the Marauders planned a lovely Valentine's day surprise for the Slytherin house.  
  
The next night, Remus and the Marauders skipped dinner. Remus snuck off to Professor Carter's room while James, Sirius, Peter, and Austin set off on a mission to find the Slytherin common room and pull off their prank. They had narrowed down the list of probable locations to two and had looked up some useful spells for finding hollow spaces behind walls.  
  
Remus took his time preparing the room and as dinner was finishing, he turned the lights in the room off and sat in a desk waiting. A few minutes later there was a soft knock at the door and Lily's voice floated through the dim room. "Professor Carter?" she said softly. Hearing no answer, she pushed the door open and several spots in the room began to glow with soft light, illuminating Lily's confused features. She came all of the way into the room, closing the door behind her. More lights came on, revealing lilies scattered over every surface of the room, and Remus sitting quietly, soaking in Lily's look of astonishment.  
  
Lily opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Remus rose from his seat and took Lily's hands in his. "Do you like it?" he asked her softly.  
  
She looked around, still in amazement. "I love it!" she exclaimed. "You did this all for me?" Remus nodded and she embraced him. "Thank you," she breathed in his ear. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she pulled away.  
  
"Are those candles in those lanterns?" she asked Remus curiously.  
  
He shook his head. "Nope. They're fairies."  
  
Lily gasped and moved closer to inspect one. "They are! How did you manage all of this?"  
  
"I just asked Professor Carter if I could use his room and James and I acquired all of the necessary supplies."  
  
"That must have been a lot of work," Lily said in wonder.  
  
"It was worth it to see the look on your face," Remus said. "I needed to ask you what was going on with us, so I thought I should do something special for you at the same time."  
  
'Well this is special, alright," Lily said. "Let's sit down and talk." She took his hand in one of hers and picked up one pure white lily with the other. She gazed closely at it, smiling, then tickled Remus' nose with it.  
  
He smiled back at her, feeling very calm and peaceful. She smiled back, a more serious smile than before. "I like you a lot, Remus," she began.  
  
"I like you, too, Lily," he answered eagerly.  
  
"Thanks," she said shyly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I really do like you, but I don't want to be your girlfriend. We're so busy and young and..." she paused, watching Remus' face nervously. "I just want to enjoy spending time with you and the other guys. But I really feel something here and maybe down the road, the time will be right." She studied his kind face carefully, trying to judge his reaction.  
  
Remus breathed a sigh of relief and Lily relaxed again. "That's fine," he replied. "I wasn't sure what I wanted out of this now, but as long as I get to be around you and know that you like me, I'm content." He paused a moment then looked at her piercingly and the words shot like bullets from his mouth. "Will I still be allowed to do special things like this for you?"  
  
With one look at his mock seriousness, Lily dissolved in a fit of giggles. "Like I would tell anyone to stop treating me well!"  
  
After enjoying a hearty laugh, Remus looked at the clock and remarked, "We might want to get going, I think the boys are going to have a great story to tell us when we get back."  
  
Lily asked excitedly what was going on, but Remus refused to tell. He just raised his eyebrows and tried to look mysterious. Lily gave up and gathered a bouquet of lilies to take with her ("I can't possibly take them all, but I need something to remind me of this night!") and they walked together down the ancient stone hallways of Hogwarts.  
  
As they were approaching the hall where the Gryffindor tower was located, they heard sounds of a stampede behind them. It turned out to be only James, Peter, Sirius, and Austin. They were breathing heavily, but James managed to yell, "Library! Now! We've been there the whole time!"  
  
The six of them turned and walked briskly to the library, where they collapsed in the corner and tried to pretend they'd been there for hours.  
  
Lily's face was flush with excitement. "What have you guys been up to?"  
  
Sirius smiled evilly. "We left the Slytherins a little Valentine's present. Just wait, we'll hear about it."  
  
Sure enough, a third year Hufflepuff burst into the library, shouting, "Somebody decorated the Slytherin common room with real animal hearts!"  
  
The librarian stood up and scolded the loud student, but he was already out of the room, spreading the good news elsewhere. Lily looked at James and Sirius in astonishment. "Real animal hearts?" she asked.  
  
"Sounds neat, let's check it out!" Sirius answered loudly and led the group out into the hallway. They soon discovered a large group of people in a hallway, forming a circle around some very distressed Slytherin girls. Some of them were crying; the rest looked furious.  
  
"We just came in after dinner," one of the furious girls, who just happened to be one of Snape's group, began. "And there were all of these disgusting, bloody hearts floating around, dripping on the floor."  
  
"Who did it?" some one in the crowd asked.  
  
"When we find out, they will pay," Severus Snape spoke up. "No one messes with Slytherin."  
  
"Some kid in the library told me it was the Marauders," Lily said matter-of- factly.  
  
Snape tried to hide the confusion that clogged his evil brain, but Lily picked up on it and filled him in. "They were the ones who arranged for Nearly Headless Nick's feast."  
  
"But who are they?" Snape demanded, moving closer to Lily. "Tell me, you stupid Muggle girl, or you'll regret it!" By that time, he was an inch from her face, but she didn't have time to react before Remus and James acted on their anger and tackled Snape to the ground.  
  
Snape stopped struggling and they both stood, ready to attack again, but Lily stopped them. "That's enough, boys. This waste of skin isn't worth your time." Saying that, she turned and left the crowd. The Marauders followed, leaving Snape standing flabbergasted in the center of a circle filled with wailing Slytherin girls. After a moment of confused silence, the whole crowd started talking at once; excited and angry voices mixing so that no words could be heard. The Marauders silently slipped away, while no one was paying any attention to them. As soon as they were out of earshot, Remus turned to them and repeated dumbly, "Animal hearts?"  
  
Sirius, James, Peter and Austin laughed hysterically, almost falling over onto the floor of the hallway. "For Valentine's Day," James gasped between chuckles.  
  
"Brilliant," Remus exclaimed ecstatically. "I love it!"  
  
"Thanks," Sirius replied. "Let's go find Lily and thank her for her fine performance."  
  
Everyone agreed to this suggestion, so they set off to find her. They searched all over, but didn't find her. "She must have gone back to her common room," Remus deduced. "Which reminds me, was it hard to find the Slytherin's tower?" "Nope," James answered, as they headed for the Gryffindor tower. "I'm surprised everyone in the school hasn't found each other's rooms by now. All we had to do was narrow down the probable locations, then use the Hollowus Locatum spell to find the hollow space that was the Slytherin common room."  
  
"Well, that should help us find secret passages, right?" Remus asked.  
  
Sirius nodded. "The things you can do with the information in the library!" He smiled and they reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Cockroach cluster."  
  
The door swung open and the group entered their common room, where several older Gryffindor students were having a small celebration. They were standing around laughing and eating.  
  
"What's this for?" James asked curiously.  
  
"To celebrate the Slytherins getting what they deserve," one of the girls answered, smiling.  
  
"I'll drink to that!" James replied, taking a glass of punch. The girl laughed, and invited everyone to join in, which they gladly did. It got quite late before the small party broke up, but not one of the students minded. It had certainly been a Valentine's Day to remember. 


	21. Quidditch

Chapter Twenty-One: Quidditch  
  
After a week or so, the Slytherins lost interest in the witch-hunt they had started to sniff out the identity of the Marauders and the excitement over the prank died down. Then it was time for the full moon, and that started everyone thinking furiously about a way to stay together during this process. Remus spent his human hours in the shack mulling over this problem, but no practical solution came to him. The time passed by uneventfully, which was a major relief to Remus.  
  
When he returned to breakfast, he simply looked at his friends with raised eyebrows and the question in his eyes. They shook their heads. "Oh well," Remus said, taking a seat next to Peter. "I guess I'll just have to be on my own."  
  
James looked at Remus compassionately. "Don't say that. I'm sure the solution is here, right under our noses. We just have to keep looking and we'll find it."  
  
Remus smiled back. "I appreciate that, James."  
  
"Don't mention it, mate," James stammered, turning a bit red and looking uncomfortable. "So, does anyone know when the next quidditch match is?"  
  
"Ravenclaw plays Hufflepuff in a week or so," Lily answered. "I can't wait to watch again!"  
  
"We should have a little game after dinner tonight," Sirius suggested. "It'd be nice to be outside doing something."  
  
Everyone agreed, then they scarfed down their breakfasts in order to get to class on time. The boys had Charms first, but Lily had Herbology, so she really had to run to get to the greenhouse on time. All day, Remus kept chewing on the problem of how to be with his friends when he transformed, but when it started to get him down, he just thought about the quidditch game they'd play that night and he felt cheerful again.  
  
Finally, dinner was over and the whole group (including Lily!) went to Madam Hooch to see if they could borrow brooms. She agreed (reluctantly in Peter's case, but they all agreed to watch out for him) and they took six old, school brooms and a quaffle and went out to the field.  
  
After an hour or so, it was too dark to play anymore, and they all felt pleasantly exhausted. James and Sirius were in deep conversation with Lily. They had been a bit surprised that she was a decent quidditch player (A/N: they had no reason to be, but they are just little boys...), so they were interested to see which teams she followed and what position she liked to play. Finding themselves left on their own, Remus, Peter and Austin discussed the potion for removing warts that they had been working on in class.  
  
As soon as the Gryffindor boys' heads hit their pillows, they were sound asleep. All of them except for Remus. He was just as tired as his friends were, but his mind was all of a sudden buzzing with unanswered questions. Finally he gave up on sleep and decided to go to the common room and catch up on some reading. He wasn't even very surprised when he met Arabella sitting in the common room as well.  
  
"Hi," she said, also not seeming at all surprised to see Remus. "Couldn't sleep again?"  
  
Remus nodded and dropped into a large armchair.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I'd rather keep my mind off of it," Remus sighed. "How about a game of chess?"  
  
"Sure," Arabella answered.  
  
They played a couple of games, and concentrating on the logic of chess helped to clear Remus' mind. He even won the last game. Arabella teased him that he just wanted to stop so he didn't have to lose again, but he joked back that he just needed his beauty sleep. With his thoughts more under control, he climbed the stairs back up to his dorm and fell asleep very soon.  
  
The next day in Potions, the professor used some of his wart potion to give every student a wart, which they had to try to remove with their counter potion. Remus was a bit nervous about what could happen to him if his potion was wrong, but luckily it was right, only a bit weak. He joined the line of about half the class who had to have the rest of their wart removed by the professor. Peter's concoction had actually grown another wart on his arm, which was growing quite rapidly. He looked at it in panic as Remus spoke up from the back of the line.  
  
"Uh, Professor?"  
  
"What?" he said, exasperated, without looking up.  
  
"I think you ought to take a look at Peter's arm..." Remus said nervously.  
  
He looked over curiously, then bolted over to Peter and administered a bright red potion to his arm. He waited, anxiously watching as the wart stopped growing and shrank down to nothing. Breathing a sigh of relief, he said sternly, "Mr. Pettigrew, didn't you hear me say to add only 1 teaspoon of crushed snake fangs?"  
  
Peter didn't answer, only looked down at his feet.  
  
"Well, you fail today's assignment, but if you need extra help, come and see me after class," the professor added.  
  
"Thank you, sir," Peter replied quietly.  
  
Lily offered after class to help Peter with any homework he needed assistance with. He accepted her help gratefully, and over the next week or so they spent several nights together in the library. Then it was time for the Ravenclaw v. Hufflepuff quidditch game. Of course, the Marauders joined Lily in supporting Ravenclaw, not only to support their friend, but also because they favored a Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw final over a Gryffindor v. Slytherin final. (They weren't sure how their friendship with Lily would survive the week of that final, but they had time to sort that out.)  
  
It was still cold out, and there was a thin layer of snow still on the ground, when the entire school made its way out to the quidditch field.  
  
Wearing their heavy winter coats, the Marauders and Lily made their way to the Ravenclaw stands. No one was surprised much to see the five Gryffindor students join Lily there. As they watched Madam Hooch toss the quaffle to begin the game, Lily spread a thick blanket over everyone's legs. Remus liked sitting this close to Lily and he was grateful to his friends for letting him sit there without comment. He didn't want Lily to feel uncomfortable.  
  
The game wasn't very exciting; Ravenclaw was a better team, hands down. It didn't take long for them to get a 100-point lead, and soon after that, the Ravenclaw seeker captured the coveted golden snitch. The Ravenclaw stands cheered and all around Lily and Remus students were remarking, "I'm glad that was quick, it's freezing out here!" Grumbling issued from the Hufflepuff stands, but it was only half hearted. They, too, were grateful to go inside to a roaring fire.  
  
Once inside, the students received a real treat- in every common room, there was a large supply of marshmallows waiting to be roasted. Lily observed the necessity of leaving her guy friends to retreat to the safe and yummy haven of the Ravenclaw tower. The Marauders nodded sadly and said they understood, but as soon as Lily was out of sight, they ran full speed to the Gryffindor tower to get their marshmallows before the older students ate them all. They had quite a fun time roasting and eating the marshmallows, as well as laughing hysterically at whoever happened to have marshmallow goo on their face. In the midst of this, Arthur Weasley stood on a chair and yelled, "Food fight!" while throwing a handful of this precious treat at Arabella and her friends. Arabella lost no time in returning the favor, and soon the whole room was littered with little white dots and exhausted students.  
  
Suddenly the portrait swung open and Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway. She started to say something, and then noticed the state of the room. Her mouth hung open for a moment, but she soon recollected herself...  
  
"What on earth were you thinking?" she said quietly, but sternly.  
  
Someone let a giggle slip out, but everyone else looked guiltily down at the floor.  
  
"Do you think this is funny?" McGonagall asked.  
  
Shoes must have been the most interesting things in the wizarding world that day, because that was all the students were intently studying.  
  
"We tried to do something nice for you, and this is what we get in return. I will have to inform Professor Dumbledore that Gryffindor house has no interest in receiving any more treats." With that, she turned and left the room, presumably on her way to see Dumbledore.  
  
As she left everyone let out a sigh, and Meg Weasley wearily remarked, "We'd better start cleaning this up."  
  
The older students showed the first years some handy cleaning spells, which made the job go quickly. It even would have been fun if they hadn't been in so much trouble.  
  
The next morning at breakfast, the students were greeted with the delicious smells of cinnamon rolls and French toast. But when the Gryffindors reached their table, they found nothing but oatmeal. They all looked at each other in dismay. Lily, who had been planning to eat with her Gryffindor friends, laughed and said, "I'll catch up with you guys later," as she made her way over to the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"Typical McGonagall," Meg Weasley muttered as she sat down. She ate a spoonful of oatmeal and tried to smile. "It's not even warm."  
  
James and Sirius exchanged glances, then began to follow Lily.  
  
She turned around. "I don't think so. You're not going to get some of our food just because yours is gross." She sat down and made a big production out of taking two thick slices of French toast and covering them in syrup. "Mmmm," she moaned as she took a bite.  
  
James and Sirius looked disgusted as they rejoined Remus, Peter and Austin at their table. They sat together and tried to choke down some of their bland, cold breakfast. 


	22. Chasing a Monster

Chapter Twenty-Two: Chasing a Monster  
  
The rest of the day seemed quite long to the Gryffindor students, whose stomachs were growling like a Gryffindor lion. Lunch had been better than breakfast, but not until dinner did they eat a normal meal. Because they were so excited to eat, they didn't notice Hagrid covered in bandages talking quietly to Dumbledore. Once they had taken the edge off of their hunger, their attention turned to the quiet, but apparently serious conversation that was happening between the groundskeeper and the headmaster. Suddenly, Dumbledore leapt from his chair and followed Hagrid quickly out of the hall.  
  
"Wonder what that's all about," Sirius said through a mouthful of turkey.  
  
Remus shrugged, lost in thought.  
  
"Looks serious," Peter remarked, looking a bit worried himself.  
  
After finishing dinner, the Marauders decided to take a walk around the grounds. They thought that was the best way to find Hagrid and get him to tell them what was going on, since they were pretty sure he and Dumbledore had gone outside. They walked past Hagrid's hut first, but it looked deserted. They wandered around past the lake and the Whomping Willow and still found no sign of Hagrid or the headmaster.  
  
Just as they were about to give up and head back into the school, they heard Hagrid's large footsteps approaching. He appeared to be searching for something, but it took him several seconds to notice the boys standing there.  
  
"Oh," he said, trying to hide his surprise and act casual. "What're you boys doin' out here?"  
  
"Trying to figure out what you're looking for," James quickly spoke.  
  
"Lookin' for Mar-" Hagrid suddenly stopped and glared at James. "I'm not supposed to talk about it. You tricked me into it! I have to go; it's important. You five get back to the castle. Now!" Hagrid's voice boomed with the last word and the boys did not question whether they should obey or not.  
  
Once they were safely inside the school, Austin said, "What do you think he was looking for? It almost sounded like Marauders to me."  
  
James looked confused for a moment. "But we didn't do anything today. And Dumbledore knows who we are, they wouldn't be looking outside."  
  
"Martin!" Sirius exclaimed. This outburst was met with questioning faces. Only Austin looked at all enlightened.  
  
"Oh yeah," he said slowly. "Martin, Hagrid's hairy MacBoon." He looked around, obviously worried. "He was pretty big when I had detention with Hagrid. He's probably a foot or two tall by now."  
  
Peter looked absolutely terrified. "Are you saying that thing is two feet tall, likes to eat people and is on the loose?"  
  
"That'd be my guess," James answered.  
  
"Poor Hagrid." Remus spoke for the first time.  
  
"Poor Hagrid?" Peter exclaimed. "He raised the thing, knowing it was a monster, then let it escape!"  
  
Remus nodded. "I know that, but he might lose his job over this and no one else will ever hire a half trained wizard. They'll find Martin soon, I'm sure."  
  
No one else looked as sure as Remus, but James nodded in agreement. "I'm sure Dumbledore knows how to handle this sort of thing."  
  
Then a piercing scream and the sound of students running interrupted their private conversation.  
  
Remus and James looked at each other wide-eyed. Then, they all started running towards the noises. Soon they encountered a stampede of students running in the opposite direction. Remus fought the current of students rushing down the halls. If Martin was really running loose in the school, he knew he had to do something to help. At that point, it didn't matter to him if James and the others were following, but he could hear them clamoring through the crowd behind him. If he had had time to think, that would have made him feel braver, but the only thing he knew was that he had to get to Martin before Martin got anyone else.  
  
The crowd began thinning out as Remus raced past some classrooms. Finally, he came upon a classroom door that had a chair shoved against it to keep it closed. Violent noises issued from behind the door as it shook, threatening to break open. Remus stopped and stood in front of the door. His mind was racing, trying to think of the right spell. In a moment, he had decided on one that would strengthen the door, to give Dumbledore and Hagrid a chance to take control of the situation.  
  
"Fortify barricadium!" he yelled as his friends caught up with him. Immediately, the door stopped shaking, and looked much tougher than it had before.  
  
"Great idea," James told Remus, impressed.  
  
Remus nodded his thanks and said, "I hope that will last until Hagrid and Dumbledore can get here."  
  
Nodding, Sirius added, "If not, I'm sure the five of us can handle Martin." James, Austin and Peter (although looking a bit sick) all nodded in agreement.  
  
James spoke up. "One of us should probably go look for Hagrid, to make sure he gets here quickly."  
  
"I'll go," Peter volunteered.  
  
Remus nodded and Peter took off.  
  
Eight eyes watched the door nervously, waiting for the sounds of six feet to echo through the halls. Just as the door started to shake again, the floor started to shake as well, signaling Hagrid's arrival. A moment later, the large groundskeeper, the headmaster and a very out of breath Peter joined Remus, James, Sirius and Austin.  
  
"Martin!" Hagrid cried, rushing to the door.  
  
"Hagrid," Dumbledore's voice warned, "Obviously Martin is quite distressed and ready to attack and you have nothing with which to defend yourself. Let me go in first."  
  
Hagrid backed away slowly, wringing his hands and imploring, "Don't hurt him, he's just a baby."  
  
James and Sirius looked at Hagrid as if to say "You've got to be joking," but Hagrid looked genuinely worried and the boys held their tongues. Dumbledore paid no attention to Hagrid's comments and proceeded to open the door with great caution, wand out and ready.  
  
"Stupefy!" he yelled as he pointed his wand into the room. There was a thud as something heavy hit the floor and the headmaster opened the door all of the way. Martin, now quite big, was lying on the floor, knocked out. Hagrid rushed to him.  
  
"Martin, I'm sorry," he moaned. "Are you ok?"  
  
Dumbledore took Hagrid's arm and gently led him aside. After a few minutes of quiet conversation, Hagrid nodded sadly and said, "I'll go get a crate, Professor."  
  
After Hagrid had left, Remus asked, "Is Hagrid going to be in trouble, Professor?"  
  
Looking thoughtful, Dumbledore replied, "I will do my best to make sure he keeps his job, but with his history, I'm not sure how successful I will be."  
  
"What history?" Peter asked.  
  
"That is only for Hagrid to reveal, if he wishes to," the headmaster answered.  
  
"What's going to happen to Martin?" Austin asked, having bonded with the monster a bit.  
  
"I am writing to a friend who lives near the Isle of Drear to ask if he will drop Martin off there. We will keep him in a crate in my office until we hear from him."  
  
The Marauders watched sadly as a crestfallen Hagrid returned with a large crate and put the still form of his pet into it. He nailed the lid on and Dumbledore said, "Hagrid, I can take it from here. Please return to your hut, and take tomorrow off. I will visit you tomorrow, and if I so much as smell a hint of alcohol in your hut then, I will cease to assist you in maintaining your job here. Am I understood?"  
  
Hagrid, hanging his head, replied, "Yes, Professor, I understand." Then he turned slowly and left.  
  
Dumbledore then turned to the boys and said, "You may go and tell the students that the situation has been taken care of and that it is safe to return. Inform them that their prefects will tell them all about it tomorrow morning, but don't answer any of their questions now."  
  
"Yes, sir," James said, and they all turned and walked down the hall to find where their fellow students had congregated.  
  
They found the terrified masses in the Great Hall. The prefects vainly attempted to calm them down, but since they had no facts (and some were just as terrified) they weren't very effective. Remus went over to Meg Weasley, who looked like one of the calmest of the prefects and delivered Dumbledore's message. She looked relieved and pointed her wand at her throat and said, "Sonorus!"  
  
"Attention," she said, but in an amplified voice that immediately quieted the immense room. "I have been informed that the situation is over and it is safe to return to your common rooms. The headmaster will talk with the prefects tonight, and they will answer any students' questions tomorrow morning. Prefects, please lead your students back to their towers."  
  
Then Meg pointed the wand at her throat and mumbled something else. Her voice returned to normal and she called for the Gryffindors to gather around her and she led them back to the tower.  
  
The next day, the boys caught Lily up on what had happened, filling in all of the details that the prefects had left out (mostly that Martin was a pet, and not a wild animal that wandered in). She, of course, felt just as bad for Hagrid as the rest of them, and suggested using their free hour to visit Hagrid. The Marauders readily agreed, but on their way out, they met Dumbledore coming in. He guessed what they were up to and told them not to disturb Hagrid. But he seemed pretty cheerful, so Remus figured that Hagrid hadn't drunk himself into a stupor.  
  
A few days later, Lily reported that she had seen Dumbledore sending off a crate with a witch on a broomstick, so they knew that Martin was safely away. Then they went to see Hagrid, who seemed to be recovering, although he kept repeating what a great man Dumbledore was, so he wasn't very interesting to talk to. Somehow the headmaster had managed to keep Hagrid his job, but with stern warnings not to try raising wild creatures in his hut without permission.  
  
It wasn't long before the excitement over the quintaped died down and the Marauders were itching to play another prank. James and Sirius spent quite a bit of time with their heads together, trying to come up with something good. Finally, they had a brainstorm. Sirius had read about a spell that acted like super glue, holding any object to any surface. So they planned to perform the spell on all of the teacher's desks on the same day.  
  
"But how will we get them all out of their classrooms?" Remus asked the masterminds, as they sat in their dorm room before bed.  
  
"You know how McGonagall is almost late every Wednesday for our first lesson?" James slyly replied.  
  
Remus, Austin and Peter nodded, waiting anxiously to hear where this was leading.  
  
"It's because all of the teachers are at a staff meeting between breakfast and lessons. So if we did the spell in the very early morning, they wouldn't realize what had happened until lessons had started."  
  
As James finished, huge smiles began spreading across the others' faces. "Wicked," Remus added, appreciatively.  
  
"We figured three of us could take the job of performing the spell and the other two could make sure the staff meeting didn't let out early," Sirius continued. "Does that sound good?"  
  
Again, Peter, Austin and Remus nodded.  
  
"Can I help with the spell?" Peter spoke up suddenly.  
  
James looked a bit concerned. "Well, Peter, it's not that you couldn't do it, we just thought it would be more believable if you were one of the people who went to the staff meeting. You could be asking for help in Potions or something. We were going to send you and Remus, if that's ok with both of you."  
  
Remus nodded, knowing that he could play this part and he would get in on the action later. Peter hesitated, then also nodded, showing great enthusiasm. "That makes perfect sense," he said, smiling.  
  
"Great!" James looked relieved. "Should we put this plan into action this Wednesday, then?"  
  
"That's the day after tomorrow," Remus thought aloud. "Will that give you three time to learn the spell?"  
  
"Sure," Sirius stated. "It seems pretty simple."  
  
"Alright then, Wednesday it is."  
  
They all put a hand into the center of their circle and said, "Marauders forever," as they threw their hands in the air. 


	23. Adherum

Chapter Twenty-Three: Adherum  
  
The next day, Sirius, James and Austin learned the Sticking Spell (Adherum) and were practicing it on various items in their room. They knew the teachers would come up with the counter spell pretty quickly, so Sirius fixed it so that when it was performed, the word 'Marauders' would hang in the air over the desk for a moment. Soon, they had it perfected.  
  
At three in the morning, Sirius, James and Austin woke up and departed the Gryffindor tower for all of the classrooms they could find. Two hours later, they returned and with Remus and Peter, got ready for breakfast. Lily ate breakfast with them, and she could tell that something was up. None of the boys were eating and there was tons of nervous energy hanging around.  
  
"What's going on you guys?" she asked.  
  
"You'll see. What do you think we'll do in Transfiguration today?" James casually changed the subject.  
  
Lily shrugged. "I don't have any idea." She looked at James strangely, but didn't ask any more questions.  
  
As breakfast neared its end, the teachers rose from the High Table and left the Great Hall. This was Remus and Peter's cue to follow. They tried to look casual as they followed the teachers at a distance and loitered around the doorway, waiting to see how the meeting progressed.  
  
Remus tried to start a conversation with Peter, but he seemed really tired and not talkative. Then Remus realized that if today was Wednesday, the full moon was only two days away. For some reason, he got a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't felt nervous about the full moon since his second month at Hogwarts. Remus reassured himself that he had no reason to worry; no one had been in danger because of him and no one was going to be. He pulled himself together as he heard the sounds of many chairs being pushed back from tables.  
  
"The meeting is ending," Remus stated unnecessarily. "We'd better go in and distract them for a few more minutes."  
  
He knocked on the door, but he and Peter burst in without waiting for a response. The faculty looked surprised to see the two students.  
  
"Is there a problem, Mr. Lupin?" Dumbledore asked looking concerned.  
  
"No, sir," Remus replied calmly. "Peter here just needed to ask Professor Turpin for some help with Potions."  
  
Dumbledore looked much relieved. "Oh. Well, I think that could have waited until a bit later, but go ahead Mr. Pettigrew."  
  
"Well, sir, I was just having some trouble with the antidote we were working on yesterday."  
  
Turpin (the never before named Potions Professor) sighed. "I'm not surprised to hear that Mr. Pettigrew, since your cauldron was emitting clouds of purple smoke yesterday. We'll talk about an extra study time in class."  
  
Remus elbowed Peter. They couldn't agree to that because their presence would then become suspicious.  
  
"I would have waited, Professor," Peter quickly added. "But I have a feeling I'm going to need this potion really soon, for my pet owl." He began to whimper. "She's really sick and I think this will help."  
  
Professor Turpin looked deeply concerned. "Of course, Mr. Pettigrew. You can come in during lunch today and if it's not quite right, we'll take your owl to Madame Pomfrey."  
  
Peter smiled broadly. "Really, Professor? Thanks so much!" Turning to Remus, he added, "We'd better get going; class is about to start."  
  
They raced out of the room and to Transfiguration, where other students were just beginning to filter in. James, Sirius and Austin were standing in the hallway nearby, waiting for their friends. It was hard to keep a straight face as the other first year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students came in to sit down, but it was much worse when Professor McGonagall walked in. She seemed very flustered already and announced that they would have a pop quiz on the transfiguration of a lemon into a book. As everyone groaned, she turned back to her desk to get the lemons to pass out.  
  
The class watched in amazement as she tugged on the fruit, trying to get it off of her desk. When that did not work, she reached for a ruler to pry them off with. When the ruler would not budge, she got angry. She whipped out her wand and muttered, "Release Adherum." The word 'Marauders' floated gently over her desk for a moment, and she stared at it.  
  
In any other teacher's room, the entire class would have been rolling on the floor in laughter, but not in McGonagall's room. Every student was working hard to suppress the giggles that threatened to escape her or his lips. Professor McGonagall was, of course, livid. She didn't say a word about the desk incident, simply handed out the lemons and announced that the quiz would now be much longer. She would hand out a new object every two minutes and if an object was not perfectly transfigured in that time, no credit would be earned.  
  
The suppressed giggles quickly vanished to be replaced by barely suppressed rage. Some one was brave enough to murmur, "She doesn't even know who did it," but he was shot so many killer glares, he didn't dare voice his opinion any louder. The hour went by in a blur. Remus transfigured so many things, he couldn't even remember them all. By the time they were released to go to Charms, he didn't care to transfigure anything again as long as he lived.  
  
In Charms, Gryffindors were talking excitedly with the Slytherins, united in their delight over a good prank. The Slytherins had had Defense Against the Dark Arts first, and they recounted Professor Carter's reaction.  
  
"First, he tried to take his book off of his desk and he looked really confused when it wouldn't budge. Then he tried to move a cage of pixies and he was pulling on it so hard, he fell over. That's when he said, 'Bloody hell,' and performed the counter curse. As he watched 'Marauders' hover and fade, he realized we were laughing hysterically and he joined in," one Slytherin explained.  
  
Then the Slytherins listened anxiously as James told of McGonagall's reaction.  
  
"Oh man," a girl exclaimed. "I hope she's over it by the time we have her."  
  
All day, students traded stories of their teachers' reactions. Lily heard that it took Professor Binns three classes to realize what was going on, and they all wished they had been there to see him.  
  
At dinner, there was finally a chance for James, Sirius, and Austin to tell their tale to Peter and Remus (because, of course, Peter spent lunch mixing antidotes for his owl).  
  
"We tried to get into Dumbledore's office, too," James explained. "But we couldn't guess the password and we don't know a strong enough spell to break in."  
  
"That might have been for the best," Remus said with a smile. "He and McGonagall are friends. Who knows what punishments we'd get if they joined forces against us."  
  
Sirius shuddered at the thought. "That 'quiz' was bad enough. I don't want to imagine anything worse."  
  
As everyone nodded, Remus glanced at the ceiling and noticed the moon. It was in its very fullest waxing gibbous phase, reminding the young werewolf of the upcoming full moon. He still felt a bit nervous, but he didn't know why, or if he should even bring it up.  
  
'_No, it'll only make them worry'_, he thought and tried to dismiss the subject from his mind until Friday, the day of the full moon. 


	24. At the Lupins'

Chapter Twenty-Four: At the Lupins'  
  
Friday came and Remus pushed away the dull nervous feeling eating at his stomach and tried to enjoy the day. After dinner, he headed out the Whomping Willow and got to the Shrieking Shack uneventfully. He curled up in the corner to get some sleep before the moon came up.  
  
Before he knew it, it was morning and he felt very tired. He moved to sit up, but his arm stung so much, he collapsed back to the floor. Moving it slowly to examine it, Remus noticed several deep scratches he must have inflicted upon himself during the night. He usually came away from the shack with a couple of mild scratches, but these were pretty bad.  
  
Remus drew his wand and fixed the cuts as best he could, but he knew they needed the experienced spell work of Madame Pomfrey. 'It's too bad I can't see her about them today,' he thought.  
  
The next day, Remus went straight to the hospital wing to see Madame Pomfrey.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Lupin?" she said when she saw him walk in.  
  
"I need you to look at-"he held out his arms.  
  
"Oh my goodness! I'll fix those at once," she said, obviously concerned. In a minute she had the scrapes healed up, which was an interesting feeling. The skin on Remus' arms felt really stretched out, but they didn't hurt any more.  
  
"Thanks, Madame Pomfrey," Remus said.  
  
"You're welcome, Mr. Lupin," the nurse replied. "Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
"Yes, thanks." With that Remus left the hospital wing, knowing his friends would be wondering where he was.  
  
Sure enough, when Remus sat down to breakfast James looked at him curiously and asked, "What took you so long, Remus?"  
  
Remus answered in a whisper, "I had some really bad scratches, so I had Madame Pomfrey take care of them first."  
  
Lily looked concerned. "You don't usually scratch yourself, do you?"  
  
"Never this badly," Remus said.  
  
At that moment, the Great Hall began to empty and Remus and his friends joined the crowd moving towards the classrooms.  
  
As the day wore on, Remus felt more comfortable in his new skin and he tried to push aside his anxieties. '_Nothing had gone seriously wrong, after all'_, he thought as he sat down in Transfiguration.  
  
Professor McGonagall interrupted his thoughts. "Here are the results of the quiz we took last Wednesday. I am very disappointed in most of your results. You'll have to be studying harder if you want to do well on your final exams."  
  
James and Sirius looked at Remus in alarm. "Final exams?" James mouthed.  
  
"Those are still months away!" Sirius moaned.  
  
"How can they be harder than that quiz?" Remus whispered in amazement.  
  
The amazement quickly turned to disappointment as he got his quiz score. It was 65 out of 100. Remus could imagine the look on his mother's face as she lamented why Remus was had to be away from her in a dangerous world and not even keeping his grades up.  
  
Remus looked over at James' desk, to compare scores, but he stopped when he saw James' look of bewilderment.  
  
"That bad, James?" Remus asked quietly.  
  
Instead of answering, James turned his grading sheet to face Remus. It said 89 out of 100.  
  
"Wow, James," Remus replied in awe. "You have a real knack for this."  
  
"Thanks, mate," James said, starting to smile.  
  
It turned out that James had the best score of all of the first years, followed by a Ronald Lynch with an 85 and Sirius with an 83. Remus resolved to spend more time studying, to make the most of his time at Hogwarts and to make his mother really proud of him.  
  
Remus started hitting the books a lot harder and more often, Peter spent a lot of time after class with various teachers catching up, and Lily was off with her Ravenclaw friends. Remus realized that what they needed was some time for the six of them, without the distractions of school. It was especially important now, as Austin's time in the UK was dwindling. The next time Remus sent an owl home, he asked if his friends could spend two days of Easter break at the Lupins' home. Not as many students went home for the Easter holidays as for Christmas, since final exams were coming soon after, but Remus thought his friends would really appreciate having a break. His parents said yes, so Remus told his friends about his plan.  
  
"Great idea!" James said, slapping Remus on the back.  
  
"Are you sure it's ok to have all five of us over?" Peter asked quietly.  
  
Remus laughed. "Of course it's ok. My parents can't wait to meet you all!"  
  
"And we can't wait to meet them," Sirius added. "But what do you normally have for Easter dinner, Remus?"  
  
"Ham," Remus replied, shaking his head. "Is food all you ever care about?"  
  
Sirius paused, thinking. "No, I guess sometimes I care about you guys, too." Laughing, he ruffled Lily's auburn hair, ignoring her annoyed looks.  
  
The Easter holidays came, and very few students were on the train back to London. In fact, there weren't any students above fourth year.  
  
"Those O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s must be keeping everyone at school," Lily remarked, referring to two very important sets of tests given to fifth and seventh year students.  
  
James shuddered. "Glad we don't have to worry about those yet."  
  
"I'm worried enough about my finals this year," Peter groaned.  
  
Lily smiled at Peter sympathetically as Sirius started gagging. Everyone stared at him, not sure what to do.  
  
"Sirius!" James yelled.  
  
One long moment later, Sirius took a long drink of his soda and smiled weakly. He looked at his bag of Bertie Bott's and set them aside. "Vomit," he remarked dryly.  
  
Soon the train pulled into the station. Remus and his friends found Remus' dad waiting. He helped them unload their trunks. Then he offered to take them to Diagon Alley for some ice cream and of course they all wanted to go. On the way there, they told him all about Sirius' encounter with the vomit-flavored bean and James even acted it all out. Everyone was in hysterics by the time they reached Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor, even Sirius.  
  
"Sounds like you had an interesting train ride," Mr. Lupin said as they sat at an outside table.  
  
"We've had an interesting term," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow at James.  
  
Mr. Lupin looked at Remus. "Have you now?"  
  
"I suppose so," Remus replied, grinning. "There's this mysterious group at school, called the Marauders, and just when things start to get a bit monotonous, they shake things up with a good prank."  
  
"Like what?" Remus' dad asked.  
  
"Oh, a variety," James answered airily. "There were the animal hearts on Valentine's Day, the rotting food for dinner, the spell that stuck everything to the teachers' desks..."  
  
Nick Lupin laughed. "Well, I bet that does prevent the monotony of school from killing anyone. But let's not mention these hooligans to your mother, Remus. She'll only worry that you'll be the next target."  
  
"Alright, dad." Remus used all his will power to suppress the giggles that were bubbling up.  
  
James pretended to be very interested in the shop down the street and Sirius had to discreetly dry the tears that ran down his face, as he held in his mirth.  
  
"What can I get for you boys?" The voice belonged to the owner of the establishment, a relatively young man with a friendly face. Remus figured he was about forty years old and wondered what Hogwarts had been like when he attended.  
  
Their orders were taken, and with a smile and a wink at Remus, Mr. Fortescue went back to the kitchens to fill them.  
  
"I would just like to thank you, Mr. Lupin, for having us over, and taking us out for ice cream," Lily said, smiling sweetly.  
  
"You're quite welcome Lily." Remus' dad smiled back. "Now what was your last name? Maybe I used to know your parents."  
  
"No, you couldn't have, sir," Lily said, blushing a bit. "My last name is Evans, but my family is all Muggle."  
  
"No shame in that dear, Remus' mother is a Muggle, you know." He winked at Lily and changed the subject by bringing up the Quidditch World Cup that would take place that summer.  
  
An hour later, at the Lupin home, seven extremely full people fell out of the fireplace into the kitchen.  
  
"Welcome home, Remus!" his mother exclaimed, giving Remus and Nick big hugs.  
  
"Hi mom," Remus answered, extracting himself from her arms. "I'd like you to meet James Potter, Sirius Black, Lily Evans, Austin Harris and Peter Pettigrew."  
  
Mrs. Lupin shook hands with each of them, saying she was very glad to finally meet them. "Remus will show you to where you will be sleeping tonight."  
  
The six students lugged trunks up the stairs as Remus explained that there was only room for 3 people in his room.  
  
"That's alright," James spoke up. "Sirius and I will sleep somewhere else."  
  
"Okay, thanks James," Remus sighed. "We have one guest room, so you two need to talk to Lily about who gets the room and who gets the couch downstairs."  
  
Lily grumbled. "I'm tired of being left out because I'm a girl. I don't want to sleep by myself!"  
  
Remus looked at her skeptically. "You really want to share a room with James and Sirius? You don't know what they're like when they're up all night. Plus, what would your parents say? They'd never let you see us again."  
  
Sighing, Lily replied glumly, "You're right. But I get the guest room, then." She looked at James and Sirius, daring them to defy her.  
  
Apparently today was not one of their braver days, because they quickly agreed.  
  
After dumping their trunks in their rooms, they went outside to play before dinner. Remus took them to his favorite park where he had spent many carefree days before the werewolf interrupted his life. He and Lily showed the others some Muggle games, like tag and hide-and-go seek. When they all collapsed in happy exhaustion onto the grass, they watched the clouds and found pictures in them. Apparently this imagination game was part of human nature, as wizard and muggle born dreamed together without any instruction.  
  
The spell was broken as Remus' mother's voice was heard calling them to dinner. The strong bond that the group formed from this hour of play held, and would hold, for years and years to come.  
  
"Coming, mom!" Remus yelled back as they made their way back to the house. Remus walked slowly with Lily and Austin to savor the moment, but Sirius heard 'dinner' and had started sprinting.  
  
"That's Sirius," Lily laughed as she watched him disappear around a corner. "Always thinking with his stomach."  
  
That was a statement everyone could agree with, but as they did, they realized their stomachs were rumbling just as much and they rushed to catch up with Sirius.  
  
By the time the five slower friends reached the Lupin home, Sirius was already eating off of an overflowing plate. "C'mon, slowpokes!" Food flew out of his mouth as he tried to speak without slowing his rate of food intake.  
  
Remus didn't need to be told twice. He immediately sat down and joined Sirius in devouring the delicious dinner. 


	25. The Good, the Bad, and the Worst

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Good, the Bad, and the Worst  
  
Dinner went very well, and Remus was surprised at how his parents got along with his friends. He hadn't expected fights or anything, but he thought they would be more withdrawn from the group. He smiled as his father finished his story.  
  
"Boy, was Minerva McGonagall embarrassed! She didn't show her face in the Great Hall for the last month before she graduated!" Remus' dad laughed.  
  
"I can't believe you knew McGonagall when she was at Hogwarts," James commented, enthralled.  
  
Mr. Lupin chuckled. "I wouldn't really say we knew each other, we were six years apart after all. But we certainly knew of each other."  
  
All six students gave a sigh of happiness and moved back from the edge of their seats. Then Lily spoke up.  
  
"What was your job after Hogwarts, Mr. Lupin?"  
  
"I was very interested in potion work, so I was a researcher at a potions shop. I worked with a lot of experimental potions." He smiled nostalgically and a bit sadly. "Now I work as a researcher at a chemical company. It is much the same."  
  
Remus could see that Lily felt bad for bringing up what turned out a touchy subject. She looked down at her plate very intently, so Remus rescued her by changing the topic of conversation. Soon after dinner was over so Remus and all of his guests retreated to his room.  
  
"France will not make it to the finals, Sirius!" James yelled heatedly.  
  
"I'm telling you, Potter, Russia and France are the best teams this year," Sirius fired back.  
  
"England beat Russia 400-120!"  
  
"Only because Russia's seeker was out with an injury," Sirius taunted.  
  
"Even with their seeker, they won't make it past Columbia!" James was close to losing it.  
  
Peter interrupted. "Hey, guys?" he said. "There's no point in arguing about the Quidditch World Cup now. It won't help and you're hurting our ear drums."  
  
James and Sirius looked around sheepishly at the pained expression on Lily, Austin and Remus' faces, as they sat in Remus' room after dinner.  
  
"Sorry guys," James said. "We tend to get a little caught up in quidditch."  
  
"Really?" Austin said. "We hadn't noticed."  
  
Sirius stared blankly at Austin for a second, then his eyes lit up and he laughed. "You were being sarcastic!"  
  
James and Remus immediately went into hysterics, while Austin and Lily looked at Sirius warily before joining in on the laughter. Before long, they were all rolling on the floor in uncontrollable mirth.  
  
Remus' mom opened his door and peaked in. "Oh, I thought maybe something was wrong up here. We could hear things falling. Don't stay up too late!" With that, she closed the door and went back to her husband downstairs.  
  
Of course, this interruption just increased the level of hysteria reigning in Remus' bedroom. It was ten full minutes later before anyone could speak through her or his giggles.  
  
It was technically early morning when James and Sirius retreated (excitedly, strangely enough) to the couch downstairs, and Lily reluctantly began leaving for the spare room. Remus was very tired, and it wasn't long before he, Peter and Austin were all deeply asleep.  
  
Remus awoke to Aidan's hoots and he noticed the sun was pretty high in the sky. He sat up sleepily, grumbling at Aidan.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to sleep all day?" he mumbled. Then he realized that it was Easter and he shook Peter and Austin awake.  
  
"Wake up! It's Easter!" he cried as his friends looked at him; sleep still in their eyes.  
  
Peter rolled back over, saying, "So what?" but Austin sat up and asked in mock excitement, "Did the Easter bunny come?"  
  
Laughing, Remus replied, "Sure he did. Let's go see what he brought."  
  
"Who's this?" Peter asked, a bit more alive, but Remus and Austin had already moved on to the guest room to wake Lily.  
  
Austin knocked and surprisingly Lily answered cheerfully. "Come in."  
  
Pushing open the door, the two boys saw Lily sitting in front of the mirror, brushing her long auburn hair. Remus felt a jolt of admiration inside, but he recovered quickly enough to say, "Lily, we're going to go see what we got for Easter. Want to come?"  
  
By the time she nodded and set down her brush, Peter had joined Remus and Austin in her doorway.  
  
"What's all this about a bunny?" Peter asked sleepily, looking bleary eyed his three Muggle raised friends.  
  
Lily giggled. "You don't know about the Easter bunny? He brings you treats for Easter!"  
  
Peter's eyes lit up. "Treats?" Then he paused. "Are you saying there's a magical rabbit that goes to all the Muggle houses leaving treats for kids?" He looked highly confused.  
  
Lily giggled even more. "No, silly, it's our parents, but when we were little we believed it."  
  
"Oh, I knew that," Peter said unconvincingly. "Let's go get James and Sirius."  
  
They ran down the stairs and roused Sirius and James from the couch where they slept. Surprisingly, once they were awake, they were excited to be up and they weren't at all grouchy.  
  
"Let's find our baskets!" James yelled.  
  
"How'd you know about those?" Remus asked.  
  
"Oh, Arthur Weasley told us all about it at school when he found out we were coming here," Sirius answered smoothly. "Fairly talked our ears off."  
  
Remus nodded and smiled, knowing from experience how Arthur could talk about Muggles.  
  
A furious search for Easter baskets followed, and after ten or fifteen minutes everyone had found their basket of treats. Inside each was a huge chocolate bunny. Immediately, everyone went for them and took a huge bite. Actually, Remus realized just as he put the chocolate in his mouth that James and Sirius had picked theirs up, but weren't eating them yet.  
  
_'Oh no!'_ he thought, as it was too late to withdraw his chocolate from his hungry mouth.  
  
His mouth was flooded with a gooey liquid that tasted like bogeys. He spit it out as soon as he could, but it wasn't soon enough. He heard several other shrieks of dismay as James turned to Sirius and said in a perfectly serious voice, "I'm glad we didn't start with our chocolate bunnies."  
  
"James Potter!" Lily sputtered.  
  
James looked angelically at Lily and composedly answered, "Yes, Lily Evans?"  
  
This, as James had planned, was too much for Lily to take seriously. Her anger dissolved in a fit of giggles. "Don't you 'Yes, Lily?' me," she halfheartedly scolded through her laughter.  
  
James smiled sweetly back, then looked around at Peter, Remus and Austin. His smile faltered as he realized his charm hadn't worked so well on them. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Luckily, Sirius came to his rescue.  
  
"It was a harmless prank." Sirius fought to remain straight-faced. "I mean, you all kind of deserve it for letting me and James spend the night together...alone...on a separate floor..."  
  
Then it dawned on Remus why the two boys had been so agreeable about having to sleep downstairs on the couch. He groaned. "He's right, you guys, we should have seen this coming."  
  
"Even so," Peter began, but it was no use. He was outnumbered, and what did it really matter? "If you'll excuse me, I suddenly feel the need to brush my teeth," he finished.  
  
The rest of the victims followed Peter's example, then they all helped themselves to the good candy, though it was examined much more closely. The weather was warm and sunny, surprising for England in the spring, but the Marauders and Lily took advantage of it, spending the whole day outside. By the time dinner rolled around, they were all famished. They were eager to taste the Easter dinner Remus had told them all about.  
  
After a delicious dinner, it was (sadly) time for Remus' friends to return home. They all thanked the Lupins for having them over, and one by one, they disappeared through the Lupin fireplace to the fireplaces in their homes.  
  
Remus heaved a sigh, sad to see them go. '_We really reconnected_,' he reflected. But he couldn't help but be grateful to have them out of harms way when he turned werewolf again in a day. He was thinking about the differences in transforming at home when his mother's voice interrupted.  
  
"Remus, you know that tomorrow is the full moon, right?" she asked quietly.  
  
Smiling weakly, Remus answered, "Of course, mom."  
  
"He is keeping on top of this, Jane," Remus' dad said, softly but sternly. "You have to trust him to be responsible."  
  
His mother looked hurt. "I know that, Nick. I trust Remus to be careful."  
  
Remus couldn't stand to see his parents this way, so he told them about the "treat" that James and Sirius had cooked up that morning.  
  
His dad laughed loudly. "You'd never guess from their appearances that they would make that much trouble."  
  
"They're not trouble, Dad, they keep things fun," Remus explained.  
  
The next night was the full moon, and as the sun began to set, Remus and his father went down to the basement of their house. A corner of it that was about 3 meters by 3 meters had been sectioned off into a smaller room. The walls of the room were extremely thick and the door was the sturdiest ever made by Muggles. Because of this, Remus' father stayed outside the room all night, wand ready, in case it gave in.  
  
"I'll be out here, son," Remus' dad said as he locked Remus in. "Don't you worry about anything."  
  
Inside, the room was bare. Remus decided to lay down and sleep until the moon came up, having nothing better to do. Sleep came upon him and he knew nothing until it was morning.  
  
Outside Remus' room, his father sat nearby, listening to the violent noises issuing from within. The experience was more painful for him than it was for Remus. Not only was it horrifying to know what one's son had to go through, but knowing that one could have prevented it by being just a bit more careful was maddening. For this reason, Remus' mother had never been in the basement while this was going on. In fact, while her husband was keeping watch, she was in the bathroom on the top floor, wearing earmuffs and playing Elvis music very loudly. She hadn't yet heard Remus' wolfly howl, and she didn't ever plan on it.  
  
The next morning, Remus woke, very exhausted, but he had no way to tell what time it was. He got up and knocked on the inside of the door. His father woke with a start and called, "Good morning, Remus," as he unlocked the door.  
  
"Morning, dad," Remus answered sleepily. His fingers absentmindedly wandered over the scratches on his arms as he climbed the stairs to the main floor.  
  
His mother was busy making breakfast as Remus walked wearily into the kitchen.  
  
"Good morning, Remus!" she said cheerfully. The smile on her face turned to concern as she caught sight of Remus' arms. "Are you ok, honey?" she asked, trying not to panic.  
  
"Sure, mom." Remus shrugged. "Just a little tired."  
  
His mother's voice shook as she asked, "Don't your arms hurt a bit?"  
  
Remus looked down at his arms. "Oh," he quietly replied. "I hadn't noticed. It must have happened last night."  
  
As he finished speaking, his mother ran from the room, unable to control the tears streaming down her face. Remus, of course, felt awful. He hadn't meant to upset his mother.  
  
"Where's your mother?" Remus' father asked, shutting the basement door behind him.  
  
Looking down at the floor, Remus answered, "She left the room crying when she saw my arms."  
  
"They do look pretty painful, son. Let me take care of them for you." He pulled out his wand and muttered something. Bandages wrapped themselves around Remus' arm.  
  
"There you go," his father said, smiling. "Not as nice as old Bell could have done, but it'll do."  
  
"Who's Bell?" Remus asked, instantly curious.  
  
"Oh, he was the nurse at Hogwarts when I was there. I imagine he's long since retired."  
  
Remus nodded. "Madame Pomfrey is the nurse now. She took care of my arms last month."  
  
Now it was his father's turn to look concerned. "This has been happening often, then?"  
  
"Recently, yeah," Remus reluctantly answered.  
  
"Maybe we need to take you back to Merlin's Hospital for Injuries by Magical Creatures," his dad said.  
  
"Dad, I'm fine! That's just what happens to werewolves and there's nothing we can do about it!" Remus shouted and ran from the room.  
  
In his room, he wrote a letter to James complaining about his parents' constant worrying, then sent Aidan off with it. Then he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time. '_I've accepted my werewolf-ness, why can't they?_' he thought angrily. '_I'm the one who has to live like this_'. He felt like going outside with his broomstick and just flying until the bad feelings left him, but there wasn't any place nearby where he wouldn't be spotted by his Muggle neighbors. Reluctantly, he took out his history book and began his essay on the development of witchcraft in Asia. All he wanted was to be out of his parents' sight.  
  
About an hour later, Remus was deeply immersed in his essay and he barely heard the knock on his door.  
  
"Remus, honey?" His mom's voice came through the door. "Can I come in?"  
  
"No!" Remus called back. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine!"  
  
"Alright, but if you want to talk, your father and I are here."  
  
Remus remained silent, and soon he heard his mother's footsteps retreating. 


	26. Celebrations

Chapter Twenty-Six: Celebrations  
  
The next day, Remus emerged from his room, very hungry and willing to act like nothing had happened. He didn't mention the fight and neither did his parents. The next day, Remus got a letter back from James, commiserating with Remus, and a few days later it was time to go back to school.  
  
Remus' dad dropped him off at the train station, reminding Remus that he could send them an owl about anything, whenever he needed to.  
  
"Thanks, dad," Remus said, giving his father a big hug before getting on the train with Austin and Peter. They found James, Lily and Sirius in a compartment on the end and joined them.  
  
After dinner that night, Remus had a desire to seek out Arabella Figg and play a game of chess with her. What he really wanted to do was to tell her about the debate he was having with his parents. He had a feeling she would know what to do, but in order for her to help, he would have to tell her everything. He wasn't ready to do that, so he sought her out in the common room and challenged her to a game of chess.  
  
"Sure," she happily replied, leaving her circle of older friends. "How was your Easter holiday?" she asked as they set up the game.  
  
"Pretty good," Remus answered. "Lily, James, Sirius, Peter and Austin spent a couple of days at my house and that was fun."  
  
Arabella smiled. "I wish I could have gone home, but I had to start preparing for finals." Her smile grew mischievous as she continued. "You mentioned Lily. How are things with her?"  
  
Blushing slightly, Remus concentrated intently on his chess pieces. "We're good friends," was his only response.  
  
Letting the half answer go, Arabella began the game.  
  
April rushed past Remus as the workload increased and the pressure of finals was starting to mount. Every once in awhile, the Marauders had managed to pull off another noteworthy prank, but they hadn't had much time for anything else. Remus and his parents continued to avoid their touchy subject in the owls they sent back and forth; he didn't mention to them that his scratching had gotten worse at the last transformation.  
  
May began and spring had "sprung," giving all Hogwarts students huge cases of cabin fever, considering they had no time to spend outside. The quidditch finals between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were held the first week of May, providing a very welcome break. Of course, there were breaks of other kinds, which weren't so welcome. Lily refused to sit with the boys at the game, because, of course, she would be cheering for Ravenclaw. For a few days prior to the match, she spent most of her time with her Ravenclaw friends, not wanting to be a traitor to her house.  
  
The match promised to be exciting, and the crowd positively roared with excitement as the players took the field. That is, most of the crowd. The Slytherin section was strangely quiet because most of the students were still sulking about their loss to Hufflepuff a few weeks before. The rest of the student body was charged with the excited energy that a good match provided.  
  
As the teams took a warm up lap around the field, James was taking a few last bets on how badly Gryffindor was going to beat Ravenclaw while Peter kept an eye out for approaching faculty.  
  
"Welcome to the Quidditch Finals between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," the announcer began. "Captains Johnson and Bagman are shaking hands, and now Madame Hooch is tossing the quaffle. Ravenclaw takes possession as the bludgers and the snitch fly off."  
  
Both teams played spectacularly and the game remained close for hours as the snitch buzzed around undetected. As twilight was beginning to fall, the seekers both saw the golden snitch at the same moment. It was hovering over the Slytherin student section as both seekers sped towards it. Their hands both touched the small ball as their bodies slammed into each other. Falling off of their brooms, they leveled a group of students beneath them. Mesdames Hooch and Pomfrey rushed to the scene, one through the air, the other through crowds of students.  
  
Suddenly the Gryffindor seeker stood up shakily. She shoved her fist in the air and smiled triumphantly as the tiny snitch beat its wings against her fingers. Then, she bent back down to help her worthy opponent and several Slytherins back to their feet. The Gryffindor section exploded in cheers, while the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students applauded both seekers' efforts.  
  
Ten students, including the seekers, were taken to the hospital wing for the night. None of the injuries were serious, but Madame Pomfrey was dogged in her determination that every scratch should be treated immediately. The Marauders didn't see Lily that night, which was probably just as well. Instead, they rushed to their common room where party trimmings were already being conjured up. The party lasted all night, with the six quidditch players present acting like celebrities. Halfway through, a few older students left to retrieve their seeker from the hospital wing. After a half an hour of pleading, they got Madame Pomfrey to release her. The party renewed itself then, as the real star arrived. She wasn't hurt, and she was enjoying the attention, but Remus could tell that she couldn't wait to get to bed.  
  
Early the next morning, the Gryffindor students headed to bed, anxious to sleep away their entire Sunday.  
  
Unfortunately, Remus' room didn't get the chance to sleep the whole day away. Around nine, a rapping at the window woke all five boys up.  
  
"Stop it," Remus mumbled, as he turned over in bed.  
  
When the noise didn't stop, he finally got out of his warm bed to see what was making the racket. The other boys sat up sleepily and watched Remus. Outside the window was a school owl, tapping incessantly at the window. Tied to its leg was a note.  
  
"It's an owl," Remus announced, opening the window and letting the bird in.  
  
"Who on earth is it from?" James asked.  
  
"Let me read it," Remus answered testily. "It says: 'Good morning, boys! Meet me in the library in ten minutes, or your window will be pelted with more owls than you can imagine. Just because you were up all night partying doesn't mean you get out of studying today. Affectionately, Lily.'"  
  
Sirius fell back into his bed. "That girl has to get her way no matter what! I say we sleep in."  
  
"Ditto!" James, Peter and Austin echoed, also curling back up in bed.  
  
Remus couldn't help but be relieved; he really wanted to sleep, too. He lay back down and closed his eyes. Ten minutes later the rapping at the window began again, but at five times the volume. This time, James jumped out of bed and ran to the window, letting five owls in. One had a note that James read aloud to his groggy friends.  
  
"'This is your last warning before a plague of owls befalls your house. Yours, Lily.'" He groaned and ran a hand through his messy black hair. "I guess she means business, guys. Get up, let's go to the library."  
  
Two minutes later, the boys joined Lily at a table in the library.  
  
"Good morning, boys," she said cheerfully.  
  
They mumbled replies and set down their heavy pile of books.  
  
"Let's break into groups. Sirius and Remus, you stay here with me and we'll study History of Magic. James and Austin, you move over there and go over Defense Against the Dark Arts," Lily suggested, ignoring the looks she was getting.  
  
James and Austin moved, but Peter stared blankly at Lily. "What about me, Lily?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry. I thought I mentioned you. Which subject do you need the most help with?"  
  
"It's hard to tell," he managed to reply, trying to smile.  
  
Lily smiled back. "James is doing well in DADA, so why don't you go with him and Austin so he can help you?"  
  
"Alright." Peter picked up his books and sat with James and Austin.  
  
The study session would have been more helpful if the boys hadn't been falling asleep by the time it was over. They managed to get themselves down to lunch, and the food revived them a little bit. After lunch, Lily suggested a visit to Hagrid. No one had been to see him in awhile, so they all agreed and spent an enjoyable afternoon in his hut. After dinner, the boys finally got leave of Lily and they went straight back to Gryffindor Tower to sleep. As they climbed the stairs to their room, Arthur Weasely and a few of his friends were just coming down the stairs. Their hair was still rumpled from the good, long sleep they had had, and Remus was insanely jealous. He wasn't in his room a minute before he fell fast asleep.  
  
They survived their classes the next day, unexpectedly, but were exhausted when they met Lily in the library to work on some Charms homework. This, of course, she was delighted to see and only drove them this hard to see them squirm. If only they hadn't been so cocky about their quidditch team...  
  
As the week dragged on, Remus found himself looking longingly out the window more and more each day. His workload simply did not permit it, but school was getting to be ridiculous. Even Defense Against the Dark Arts was getting to be tedious. Finally, Remus decided to do something about it. What he really wanted to do was to be outside, with some friends without any school worries. Of course, he couldn't take away the school worries, but he could plan an event to take place outside with his friends.  
  
Remus enlisted James and Sirius' help in planning a blow out picnic down by the lake. They immediately agreed and began brainstorming for a picnic no one would forget. James consulted the house elves about a menu for the event, Sirius tried to find some entertainment and Remus was in charge of supplies and secrecy.  
  
The day of the picnic, the three friends spent the morning setting up. The whole school became curious as to what was going on down by the lake, so they went out to investigate. The party was just beginning when Severus Snape came strutting down with Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. The look of smug satisfaction on Snape's face made Remus want to hit him before a word was even spoken.  
  
"Who is in charge of this celebration?" Dumbledore inquired.  
  
James spoke up immediately. "Myself, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, but I don't see how we are breaking any school rules by having this picnic."  
  
"The picnic itself is not in violation," Professor McGonagall remarked. "It is the food we are concerned with."  
  
"The food?" Remus involuntarily asked aloud.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Lupin, the food," Dumbledore said, nodding. "It has come to our attention," Snape grinned evilly at this, "that the food being served here was taken from Hogwarts kitchens without permission. We cannot allow this to continue, for fear of the kitchens constantly being overrun with students looking for free food."  
  
The crowd of students slowly dispersed, leaving only the two professors, Remus and his friends, the band (who was packing up) and the tattletale Slytherin.  
  
"We're sorry, Professor," Remus said quietly. "We were just trying to lighten up the end of term atmosphere, and it didn't seem like stealing..."  
  
"Because the house elves are quite generous with their food," Dumbledore finished. "I quite understand, but that doesn't make it right to take advantage of them. You will not be punished for this, but you must stay away from the kitchens in the future."  
  
Snape's face fell as if Christmas had been canceled. He looked at Professor Dumbledore in amazement, but wisely held his tongue as the two teachers returned to the castle.  
  
"You've got some nerve, Severus, breaking up the party like that," Lily spat.  
  
Snape laughed, almost cackling. "No, it doesn't take nerve to get revenge; just time, waiting for the right moment."  
  
"We'll see who has the last laugh in this, Snape," James declared. "I wouldn't bet against us."  
  
With that, five Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw walked up to the castle together, leaving Snape alone; still laughing, but alone. 


	27. Horror in the Moonlight

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Horror in the Moonlight  
  
The next Saturday, something almost miraculous happened. Austin had asked Lily for help on a big assignment in Herbology and she had agreed to spend the whole day working on it with him. While this was too bad for Austin, it gave the Marauders the chance they had been looking for to get out of their normal group study sessions without attracting attention.  
  
"What should we do with our freedom?" James asked, stretching out on his bed that morning.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Sirius responded, throwing a pillow at James. "We look for secret passages."  
  
"Oh, yeah," Remus said, nodding slowly. "I had almost forgotten about that."  
  
"Great idea, Sirius," James eagerly replied. He looked around, then spoke to Remus, "Isn't tonight the full moon?"  
  
Remus nodded. "But we should be back in plenty of time, it's not even noon yet."  
  
"Alright." James nodded authoritatively. He gathered up a roll of parchment and a quill so that he could make notes, then they headed out of their tower.  
  
"Where should we start?" Peter asked.  
  
"I say we start at the bottom of the school and search until we get to the top," Sirius proposed.  
  
This was agreed to by all as the best plan, so they cautiously made their way to the dungeons below the school, not being anxious to run into the caretaker, Pringle. It took them a bit longer, but they made it without being detected. With the help of their handy Hollowus Locatum spell, they searched every inch of wall and floor space there was. After a half-hour of this searching, they found a hollow spot behind a particularly dirty section of wall.  
  
"But how do we open it?" Remus wondered, his brow furrowed in thought. The boys pushed on every section of rock in the wall and nothing happened.  
  
James pointed his wand at the wall. "Alohamora!" Nothing happened. James shrugged. "It was worth a try."  
  
Peter nervously took out his wand and said, "Erschließen Sie!" To everyone's surprise, especially Peter's, the stones moved aside, showing the entranceway to a secret passage.  
  
"Where'd that one come from, Peter?" Remus asked, astonished.  
  
"I learned some German from my great-grandma," Peter said shyly. "I just said 'open up' in German."  
  
James slapped Peter on the back and pushed him into the passageway. "You're a genius, my friend."  
  
The Marauders stepped into the dark passage, all at once whispering, "Lumos!" The light from their four wands led their way.  
  
They walked for a few minutes, Remus' heart was pounding with excitement, and a bit of anxiety. After much winding and climbing, the boys found another wall, which opened with Peter's spell. The stones rearranged to form a doorway that led into the hall just behind the entrance to Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Are we where I think we are?" Peter asked in awe.  
  
James whistled in amazement. "Inside the secret entrance to Dumbledore's office." He grinned. "We sure hit the jackpot!"  
  
A noise from further down the hall forced them back into the passageway, the stones reforming a wall in front of them. Everyone tried to talk at once, quietly, but excitedly.  
  
"Why on earth is this here?" Sirius blurted out. "Anyone can have access to the headmaster's office."  
  
"Or, the headmaster can have quick access to the dungeons," Remus reasoned aloud. "I mean, you can't disapparate on school grounds, so you have to have some way to get around quickly."  
  
"Good thinking, Remus." James nodded. "It makes sense."  
  
Soon they were back in the dungeons, continuing their search after making note of the first passage on their parchment.  
  
"I've found another one!" Remus exclaimed excitedly, not long after.  
  
The other three boys rushed over to the nondescript section of wall that Remus stood near. "What should we try to open this one?" James wondered aloud.  
  
Alohomora and Erschließen Sie were quickly tried, but in vain. The Marauders wracked their brains, trying every spell they could think of. Heaving a huge sigh of frustration, Sirius banged his fist on the wall. To their wonder, Sirius' hand continued to move through the air as the wall swung inward, like a door.  
  
"Where did you touch it, Sirius?" James immediately called out.  
  
Sirius pointed, still a bit shaken. "Right there."  
  
James made a note of that on his parchment and the boys headed down the dark passageway. Remus was just as excited to find where this led as he was to see where the first one went, but when they had been walking for twenty minutes, his excitement cooled to a mild interest. After half an hour, the boys began to eye one another uneasily, but no one spoke, being sure the end was just ahead. What seemed like hours later, Peter's stomach gave a particularly large growl.  
  
"Sorry," he quietly apologized.  
  
"What time is it getting to be?" Remus asked.  
  
"Time for dinner," Sirius glumly replied, after checking his watch.  
  
No one wanted to be the one to suggest they turn back. '_Besides_,' Remus thought, '_We might as well go to the end, since we've come this far._' The Marauders trudged on.  
  
And on.  
  
And on.  
  
Remus spoke up. "Uh, guys?"  
  
"What is it Remus?" Peter asked.  
  
"The moon is going to be coming up soon, and it's full tonight." Remus paused to let the statement sink in.  
  
James was the first to respond. "Ok, so we either get us out of here or you out of here, right?"  
  
Remus nodded.  
  
"And we know that back to the castle is a long way," he continued, thinking aloud.  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
"So I say me, Sirius and Peter keep going and get as far as we can in the opposite direction, hopefully finding the exit, while Remus heads back towards Hogwarts, but doesn't go in if he gets there. That way we are at least as far apart from each other as we can get," James concluded.  
  
"But what if we aren't far enough?" Remus had to have every possibility accounted for.  
  
"We have three wands," James reasoned. "We should be able to stupefy you without any trouble."  
  
'_You're not stupefying me, you're stupefying the werewolf_,' Remus thought, but he knew there wasn't time for that.  
  
"Alright, but remember what Professor Carter said about stupefying spells not lasting long on werewolves," Remus replied.  
  
"We will." James smiled reassuringly. "We'd better get going. We'll come and find you when the moon's gone down."  
  
James, Peter and Sirius turned and walked towards the unknown that lay ahead, while Remus turned back and waited for the horror he knew to befall him. He only hoped it wouldn't involve his friends.

-----

About ten minutes later, James, Sirius and Peter reached a dead end. Dirt surrounded them on all sides, except behind. Sirius looked at James, shrugged and began banging on the walls with his fist. Nothing happened.  
  
"Are you guys feeling a bit cold?" Peter asked, rubbing his arms.  
  
James looked around, his eyes searching the walls. "Yeah, Peter, I feel the wind. I think it's coming from the ceiling."  
  
He prodded the dirt above them with his finger and said excitedly, "I think it's just a trapdoor in the ceiling. Help me lift it!"  
  
Peter and Sirius helped James push on the ceiling and sure enough, it lifted up to allow them out of the passageway.  
  
They stood in the middle of a pasture, near some farmland. They gratefully breathed in the fresh country air as the moon began to creep up the sky. Sirius surveyed the landscape, looking in vain for the Hogwarts castle. All that was visible for miles around were fields and the occasional farmhouse.  
  
"All we have to do now is wait," James muttered through a yawn. "Let's sit behind those bushes where we won't feel the wind."

----

Meanwhile, Remus was hurrying back towards the Hogwarts end of the tunnel when the painful change began to happen. He sprouted rough, brown fur all over his body. His fingers and toes lengthened and grew terrible claws. 'Oh no,' he thought as his nose morphed into a snout and the wolf's mind took control.

----

Back by the farm, the boys were beginning to nod off when they heard howling from under the trapdoor. It still sounded a way down the tunnel, but it caught their attention. Unbeknownst to them, it also brought a Muggle farmer out of his house to investigate. He was carrying a large shotgun as he walked cautiously out towards the noise in his field.  
  
"Wands ready," James reminded his friends as the howling grew closer.  
  
As they watched the patch of grass where the trap door was closely, it began to shake a bit. Without realizing it, the three boys all raised their wands a bit higher. As they continued to watch, a furry hand lifted the door and a full sized werewolf emerged onto the field.  
  
"Stupefy!" three voices yelled at once. The werewolf stopped dead in its tracks and boys kept their eyes and wands on it, waiting for signs of movement to start. They did not notice the movement behind them until they heard strange clicking noises.  
  
An obviously Muggle farmer was pointing a long, metal thing at the werewolf. The three wizard-raised boys stared, not knowing what to make of it.  
  
"Diie, yuh monstah," the Muggle muttered, shaking from anger and fright.  
  
The boys understood this sentiment, and as Peter's brain absorbed it, two very different voices told him what to do. A lion roared, "Go!" and a calm, cool, cunning voice agreed, "Yes, boy, go." In that split second, Peter acted.  
  
"No!" he yelled, jumping from the bushes and pushing Remus out of harm's way as the gunshot rang out. He and the stupefied werewolf crashed to the ground with a tremendous thud. 


	28. An Unexpected Hero

Chapter Twenty-Eight: An Unexpected Hero  
  
The Muggle gave a yelp of surprise before Sirius and James stupefied him together. He fell over backward and lay still. As Sirius and James turned from the farmer back to their friends, Peter gasped as the werewolf began to move slightly underneath him. He scrambled to stand up and get away as James and Sirius stupefied it again.  
  
Peter trembled as Sirius and James kept their wands directed at the beast.  
  
"Good thinking, Peter," Sirius stammered. "Keep an eye on the Muggle, will ya? We don't want him to wake up until we're long gone."  
  
The boys' spirits sank further with this statement because they all realized how long they would have to stay like this, on guard, until the moon went down and the werewolf turned back into Remus. Peter raised his wand, nevertheless, keeping his eyes on the Muggle.  
  
James sighed. "Might as well sit down, we'll be more comfortable that way." He smiled, trying to look reassuring as he, Peter and Sirius sat down on the cold grass. They remained ever vigilant, re-stupefying the werewolf numerous times and the Muggle once, though sleep threatened to overtake them.  
  
Hours and countless stupefying spells later, James and Sirius watched in amazement as the werewolf hair began to disappear and the beast's body returned to that of 11 year old Remus J. Lupin. Peter still had his eyes locked on the Muggle farmer, when he heard noises of small movements beginning. When he didn't hear a voice yelling, "Stupefy!" he asked, "Hey, guys...?"  
  
He stopped as he looked over to see Remus sit up, himself again.

----  
  
Remus sat up, rubbing his head. '_This doesn't feel like the shrieking shack_,' he thought before opening his eyes. When he opened them, he was surprised and distressed to see James and Sirius staring back at him, wands still raised. He looked all the way around him, trying to figure the strange situation out. He remembered now about being in the secret passage when the transformation happened, but where was he now?  
  
Peter sat on the other side of James and Sirius and was slowly turning to face Remus. His wand was up and ready as well, but it was pointing in the opposite direction. Remus followed where it pointed and saw the Muggle farmer lying sprawled on the ground, his gun next to him. Behind the man lay farmland as far as Remus could see. He turned blankly to his friends and murmured, "Where are we? What happened?"  
  
The three boys looked at one another, trying to decide what to say. After a moment, James began.  
  
"We're somewhere out in the country, we're not sure where," James replied, shrugging. "This is where the secret passage came out, so we sat here to wait for the moon to go down so we could get back to Hogwarts with you. Then we could hear this howling and the trapdoor over there," James pointed, "opened and a werewolf came out." James' eyes dropped from Remus'.  
  
"We were ready, so we stupefied, uh...the werewolf, but then we hear this Muggle yelling 'die' and pointing that thing-"  
  
"It's a gun," Remus corrected automatically. "It shoots little bits of metal into stuff."  
  
"Oh, well, he's pointing this gun at the werewolf and suddenly Peter jumps up and pushes the werewolf out of the way- of the bits of metal, I guess- as the gun makes this big bang, and Sirius and I stupefy the Muggle. Since then, we've been sitting here, on guard, reapplying our spells when needed."  
  
Remus looked at Peter, speechless. Peter turned red and looked away. Opening and shutting his mouth a few times, Remus couldn't find any words.  
  
Sirius put an arm around Remus. "Don't worry about saying anything, Remus, let's get you back to Hogwarts first."  
  
Nodding, Remus shakily stood and followed Sirius to the trapdoor.  
  
"What about the Muggle?" Peter asked James, who was standing next to him.  
  
James looked around a bit. "Um, I know we aren't supposed to do this, but I think we have to modify his memory so he won't remember this. I saw my dad do it once, I think." He raised his wand, pointed it at the fallen Muggle and cried, "Obliviate!"  
  
A small bang issued from the end of his wand, and the farmer moaned a bit as he stirred, but he didn't wake up.  
  
"I hope that worked," James said to Peter as they made their way over to the trapdoor. "But we can't very well wake him up to see if he remembers us, can we?" He smiled weakly.  
  
Sirius had already jumped down into the secret passage and was starting to help Remus down. James and Peter assisted from the top, then Peter climbed down before James surveyed the scene quickly to make sure no signs of their adventure remained and dropped below the earth with his friends.  
  
It took them much longer to return to the castle, as Remus was weakened by physical and emotional stress, and the others were just plain tired. As he trudged wearily on, Remus berated himself for allowing this dangerous situation to come about. '_I never should have told them,_' he ranted to himself. '_I should have been more responsible yesterday. I could have killed them. Maybe my parents were right all along._' On and on these torturing thoughts went, as long as it took to get back to the castle.  
  
The silence the Marauders had been wearily traveling in was broken by the grating sound of the door into Hogwarts' dungeons opening. James led the way in, making sure the coast was clear before he motioned for the others to follow. For the first time, Remus wondered how much of this was going to be revealed to the school, Professor Dumbledore in particular. Apparently, the other boys wished to get upstairs unnoticed, but were they planning to keep it hidden? Remus didn't have time to decide what was the right thing to do because as soon as the doorway closed behind them, the headmaster appeared in the dungeons.  
  
A look of relief filled Dumbledore's face as he sighed heavily, but happily. "There you boys are," he said, mostly to himself. "You have no idea how worried we've been. Does anyone need to see Madame Pomfrey right away?"  
  
The Marauders all shook their heads and Dumbledore nodded. "Then I would like you all to come to my office with me so we can find out what has happened."  
  
Dumbledore led them through deserted halls, reaching his office without passing anyone. It was, after all, either very late or very early. When they arrived in his office, the boys immediately sat down in the cushioned chairs and felt much better. The Professor conjured up a plate of sandwiches that he could tell the boys needed, then turned to his fireplace.  
  
Remus watched in amazement as Dumbledore threw some powder on the fire and called, "Minerva?"  
  
Professor McGonagall's head appeared in the fire. "Yes, Albus?" it answered. "Any sign of them?"  
  
"They are here in my office, all four of them, safe and sound."  
  
McGonagall's head sighed with immense relief. "Thank goodness."  
  
"Please let Poppy know that she will have four patients on their way in a little while," Dumbledore finished.  
  
"I will." With a pop, McGonagall disappeared.  
  
Dumbledore turned back to the boys, all eating hungrily, except for Remus. "When you have had time to collect your thoughts, I would like to hear the entire story."  
  
Remus was extremely grateful for this allowance by the headmaster. His head was a complete mess and he needed time to think before he talked. He even ate a sandwich while Dumbledore sat back in his chair, looking very relaxed.  
  
Finally, Sirius spoke up. "Well, sir, it all started yesterday before lunch. We didn't have any immediate studying to do, so we decided to wander a bit, exploring the castle. We were in the basement, where you met us today, sir, and I happened to lean against the wall and open a secret door."  
  
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, as if he was not quite sure Sirius just 'happened' to find the door, but he said nothing.  
  
"So we decided to see where the passage led to," James continued. "Remus had reminded us all that it was a full moon, but we had no intentions of being gone more than ten minutes. Well, it took hours to walk that passage, and when we realized the time, our best bet was to get me, Sirius and Peter out of the tunnel and leave Remus there to change." He looked at Remus.  
  
Remus nodded and began. "I started back towards the castle while they hurried on. It wasn't long before the werewolf started to take over. After that..." he trailed off, inspecting the floor of the office.  
  
Peter jumped in. "We made it to the end of the passage, and sat nearby, waiting for the moon to set. Then we heard howling coming closer and out of the tunnel comes the werewolf. We stupefied him, but then we heard a Muggle yell, 'Die you monster.'"  
  
Looking concerned, Dumbledore sat up and looked at the boys closely.  
  
Peter did not continue, so James finished the story. "The Muggle had this-" he looked at Remus, unsure, "gun?- And as he pointed it at Remus, Peter tackled him out of the way of its harm, giving Sirius and me a chance to stupefy the Muggle."  
  
Remus noticed a strange look filling Dumbledore's eyes as he looked over at Peter. He started to speak, but stopped to allow the boys to tell it their own way. He had time for his questions later, Remus reasoned.  
  
"So we stayed on guard all night, keeping the werewolf and the Muggle stupefied, and when the moon went down, Remus came back and woke up. We tried to modify the Muggle's memory, then we came back here," James finished.  
  
Remus held his breath, waiting to see how much trouble he would be in for not being under the Whomping Willow, and what Dumbledore would do to the others for stunning a farmer and modifying his memory. Those seemed like pretty high crimes to him, and he didn't know how they would be handled. For a few moments it was completely silent, except for the small rustling noises Fawkes was making. Remus' wandering attention settled on the bird, which was still very small, but now feathered in beautiful scarlet plumage. Then Dumbledore spoke.  
  
"I have heard some concerns voiced about admitting Remus to Hogwarts," Dumbledore began slowly. Remus hung his head in shame, his cheeks burning. "No, I misspoke. I heard concerns about how to protect everyone while Remus was here; I did not hear anything against admitting him. But if anyone could have anticipated the maturity, wisdom, and bravery with which you boys have handled this unfortunate accident, there would have been no worries at all."  
  
Remus looked up, not willing to believe what he had heard. Could Dumbledore actually be proud of them? The smile on Dumbledore's face convinced him, and the same look had returned to the Headmaster's eyes. Remus realized, returning the smile, that it was pride.  
  
"I must certainly remark upon the incredible bravery of Mr. Pettigrew," Dumbledore continued. "Mr. Pettigrew, do not look away in shame. You did a great thing, saving Remus from an unknown danger, not knowing how long he would remain stunned. For your showing of immense bravery and concern for your friend, I will award Gryffindor 100 points."  
  
Peter looked as if he had just been stunned. He hadn't earned Gryffindor any points all year. "Thank you, sir," he quietly replied, looking Dumbledore right in the face.  
  
Professor Dumbledore waved his hand, dismissing Peter's thanks. "No thanks are necessary, you have earned the honor. Now, as for Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, I must also congratulate you on your quick thinking and bravery in the situation. I will award each of you 10 points."  
  
James and Sirius grinned widely, silently congratulating themselves on escaping punishment yet again.  
  
"Now, if you three will excuse myself and Mr. Lupin, there are things we must still discuss," Dumbledore continued. Peter, Sirius and James all nodded and rose. "Please go down to see Madame Pomfrey, she'll be furious if I let you escape her care." The boys nodded again, smiling, and quietly left the room.  
  
This was the part Remus had been dreading. He was awfully glad to not have caused his friends' expulsions, but he knew he had been responsible for putting them in mortal danger. He was dealing with his own guilt and disappointment in himself; he really didn't need anyone else's. He sighed and tried to disconnect his feelings as Dumbledore spoke.  
  
He stared at Fawkes, not willing to meet Dumbledore's eyes. After a moment, Dumbledore said gently, "Remus?"  
  
Startled by the use of his first name, Remus looked up. He did not see disappointment in the older wizard's face, only kindness and understanding. Faced with this, Remus began to cry.  
  
Dumbledore put a hand on Remus' shoulder as the tears streamed down his face. When they slowed, Dumbledore said, "Now, Mr. Lupin, I can see that you are punishing yourself enough for your mistake in forgetting the time. I will not lecture you because I can see your remorse. I only ask that you talk to me about it. Keeping all of your guilt inside can only hurt you and those who care about you."  
  
Remus nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. Finally, the words burst from him like a swollen river from behind a weakened dam.  
  
"I could have killed them all!" he screamed. "I could have killed them all," he repeated quietly.  
  
"But you didn't," Dumbledore replied reassuringly. "They are all fine."  
  
Remus just shook his head. "I never should have put them in that sort of situation. I never should have told them, I never should have..." he looked at Dumbledore sadly, unable to finish.  
  
"You never should have come to Hogwarts?" Dumbledore finished. "Is that what you're thinking?" Remus nodded. "Nonsense, Mr. Lupin. You belong here. I'm surprised you can't see that."  
  
Remus looked faintly surprised. "What do you mean, sir?"  
  
"Why, you're one of the top students in your class, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore began. "And I, for one, cannot imagine the Marauder's tricks without your unique influence." The headmaster smiled warmly at Remus and Remus found himself smiling back.  
  
"I guess you're right," Remus said, a bit more cheerfully. "But I still should have kept them safe from harm."  
  
Dumbledore nodded, looking wise. "We all try to keep our friends out of harm, however, that is not always within our power. You have made a mistake, but no harm has come of it. In fact, good will come from it."  
  
"Good?" Remus asked, startled.  
  
"You will be much more careful from now on."  
  
"You're right, sir," Remus replied, standing up. "Thank you for talking with me."  
  
Dumbledore stood as well. "You are quite welcome, Mr. Lupin. Anytime you need to talk with me, please do not hesitate to do so."  
  
"Thank you, sir," Remus gratefully answered. He shook Dumbledore's hand.  
  
"Get yourself down to the hospital wing, Mr. Lupin, or Madame Pomfrey will most definitely be displeased with me," Dumbledore said with a wink as Remus left.  
  
Outside the hospital wing was Lily. She stared impatiently at the door as Remus approached from behind. She was hopping with anxiety, muttering about the "silly restrictions" Madame Pomfrey enforced.  
  
"Hello, Lily," Remus said, causing Lily to turn around in alarm.  
  
He saw her green eyes change from horribly worried to terribly relieved in the instant it took for her to understand who was speaking to her.  
  
"Remus!" She cried, running to him and embracing him. "You're ok!" She gleefully continued as she backed away to look at him.  
  
"Of course I am," Remus said with a sly smile.  
  
"The others," Lily breathlessly spoke. "I heard that someone saw them go into the hospital wing, but no one saw you and that witch wouldn't let me in to see them and..." She paused for breath.  
  
Remus put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Lily. We're all all right. I'm sorry we worried you."  
  
"I'm just glad you're ok," Lily said with a smile. "But don't you ever scare me like that again!" She punched Remus lightly on the shoulder. "What on earth happened?"  
  
"Uh..." Remus realized Madame Pomfrey was probably waiting for him. "I have to go in there now," he pointed sadly, "but we'll explain it all to you when we are released."  
  
"All right," Lily sighed, but she smiled, too. "Come find me in the library as soon as she lets you go!"  
  
"We will," Remus promised, opening the door.  
  
"Miss Evans, I told you, you are not allowed in here! These boys-" Madame Pomfrey stopped abruptly when she saw it was Remus, not Lily who was coming in. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry Mr. Lupin. I thought you were...well, someone else."  
  
The nurse-witch bustled over from Sirius' bedside and started questioning Remus. After an exhaustive round of questions, Madame Pomfrey hurried Remus into bed. She wanted to observe him for a little while and run a few tests. She had given the other Marauders a sleeping potion after making sure they were physically fine.  
  
After a few minutes, Madame Pomfrey seemed satisfied with Remus' state of health, and prescribed him a potion for dreamless sleep. The last thing Remus remembered thinking was, '_Lily is going to be waiting in the library for quite some time..._'


	29. Beginnings

Chapter Twenty –Nine: Beginnings  
  
When Remus woke up, he had no idea what day it was. He sat up slowly, looking around the room. To his surprise, Lily was napping in a chair nearby, but Peter, James and Sirius were not in any of the other beds. As he watched, Lily rolled over and opened her eyes.  
  
"You're awake!" she cried happily. "Just in time! Happy birthday, Remus!"  
  
"It's my birthday?" Remus asked, amazed.  
  
"Yup," Lily giggled. "May 18, right?"  
  
Remus nodded happily. "I'm glad I woke up in time."  
  
"Me, too," Lily replied. "The boys will be happy, too, let me go get them!"  
  
With that, Lily rushed from the room. Soon, she returned with Austin, Sirius, Peter and James. Madame Pomfrey didn't seem to mind them being there, since there weren't any other patients to disturb. Remus got some good presents, tons of candy and a Quik Quotes Quill ("It takes notes on a lecture for you!") among other things. Mostly, he was just happy to spend the day with his friends.  
  
Unfortunately, after the party, reality set in and Remus and his friends realized how much studying they had to get done for exams in the next two weeks, especially the people who slept through some classes. Remus didn't have time for much else, especially worrying or feeling guilty.  
  
The day before finals started, the boys were sitting around their dorm room, studying separately when James let out an exclamation. "That's it!" he yelled.  
  
"What's it?" Sirius lazily replied.  
  
James grinned broadly, his black hair messy as usual. "The answer to our and Remus' problem."  
  
"Which problem is that?" Remus wondered aloud.  
  
"How we can stay together during the full moon and still be safe," James answered triumphantly.  
  
"No way," Sirius scoffed. "What are you reading anyway?"  
  
James glanced at the cover of their DADA book. "Our Defense Against the Dark Arts book. I was studying the section on werewolves and it says they don't attack animals."  
  
"So?" Peter questioned.  
  
"It's been in front of our faces all year long," James lamented. "All we have to do is become animagi."  
  
Dead silence followed this statement. '_ALL we have to do?_' Remus thought.  
  
"Is it that easy, James?" Austin asked.  
  
James shrugged. "I haven't checked it out yet. We'll have to research this summer and start working on it whenever we can next year."  
  
"Yeah, you guys will have a blast doing it, I'm sure," Austin sullenly answered.  
  
The other boys looked at each other and nodded. "We were gonna wait to give you this, Austin," Remus said, retrieving a large cage from under James' bed. "But I think you need it now."  
  
Austin looked overwhelmed with happiness. "You got something for me?" he whispered.  
  
"Open it," James urged.  
  
Removing the cover, Austin revealed a beautiful eagle owl. The smile seemed to cover his entire face. "I don't know what to say, you guys."  
  
"Now we can write back and forth all of the time," Peter remarked. "Even though you won't be here with us."  
  
"It's really the next best thing to studying every spare moment to learn to do an illegal and probably painful spell," Sirius continued.  
  
The boys all laughed. Austin was looking much happier. "Thanks, guys," he said. "You will sure be seeing a lot of this owl once term is over."  
  
"I hope so," Remus said, smiling.  
  
Exams began the next day. They were long and grueling, but Remus was happy with his results. James and Sirius had surprised everyone by being at the top of the class, and Remus and Lily weren't too far behind. Austin finished fairly well and Peter had managed to do decently with Lily's extra help. All too soon it was the last day of term. After packing their trunks, the six students ran down to Hagrid's hut for one last visit as first years.  
  
"Ah'm sure gonna miss yeh over the summer," Hagrid said, teary eyed. "And Ah'm gonna miss Austin even more cuz...cuz he won' be back!" Tears started to spill over onto his bearded face.  
  
Austin couldn't stand Hagrid's tears any more than the rest of them could, so he quickly said, "I've got an owl now, Hagrid, I'll owl you all of the time!"  
  
Hagrid looked up wearily. "Promise?"  
  
Austin solemnly replied, "Promise!"  
  
"I 'ad better get an owl from all of yeh this summer," Hagrid cheerfully bantered.  
  
"Of course, Hagrid," Lily answered for them.  
  
James looked at his watch. "Uh oh, we'd better get going. Thanks for everything Hagrid, have a nice summer!" They all hurried to catch the coaches that would take them back to the Hogwarts Express.  
  
They all shared a compartment on the trip back to London, happily discussing the high points of the year, the Quidditch World Cup and other summer plans. In the train station, Lily saw her parents first, so she bade them all farewell and then took Remus aside.  
  
"Have a great summer!" she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Write me!"  
  
As soon as she was gone, James told them all that he would find a good book on animagi and send it to them all as soon as he could. "We need to find everything we can," he added. "So if you can find a book on the subject, read it and take notes for us."  
  
Everyone nodded, and then it was time for Austin to go. "Now look," he said sternly. "I don't want this goodbye filled with tears and mushy stuff. I'll be seeing you this summer, so let's just say a bientot."  
  
The Marauders smiled and echoed, "A bientot!" as Austin and his parents left the station.  
  
Finally, their parents began to arrive, and they shouted various messages of "Send me an owl" and "See you at the world cup!"  
  
Remus stood with his mom and dad in the train station, after his friends had gone, looking longingly at the scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express. He did love being a wizard, he thought to himself. '_I hope I can get her to understand that_.'  
  
"Ready, son?" his dad gently asked.  
  
Remus looked at their loving faces. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."  
  
--End of Year 1--  
  
A/N: I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at fan fiction. Please look for _Peter Pettigrew and the Perilous Pranks (Year Two)_ to be posted here soon! 


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